- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
The Dnipro metro (until 2017, Dnipropetrovsk) was opened in the mid-90s of the last century. There is only one line and 6 subway stations - and nevertheless, this subway is considered the third in Ukraine. The branch stretches under the city streets for 7, 1 km, and you can drive it from one terminal to the other in 12 minutes.
The metro in Dnipro does not differ in any regalia and high positions in the ratings, but nevertheless it is considered convenient among the townspeople and significantly facilitates movement around the city. Survey, design and construction work in the city lasted since 1979, and the metro opened in 1995. It was the first metro in the post-Soviet space, which began to function after the USSR ceased to exist as a state. Also, this metro is the first to open in independent Ukraine.
All stations, except for Pokrovskaya, are deep. The development of the underground in this city does not stop, the plans are being corrected by the economic situation in the country. From time to time, plans to extend the line are renewed, investors and developers appear, in particular, Chinese metro builders, French companies, etc. As of the end of 2018, there are no active actions to develop the metro, but there are several projects. Time will tell whether they will be implemented.
Fare and where to buy tickets
The fare from 2018 is 4 hryvnia. The fare is paid by means of plastic tokens. Traditionally, you can buy them at the cash desks at the stations. Another option is monthly passes. There are two standards: a regular travel card for three types of public transport (metro, trolleybus, tram) will cost 440 UAH, but a preferential student card - exactly half the amount (220 UAH).
Metro lines
The metro consists of only one line. Its length is less than eight kilometers. This line can be traveled from end to end in twelve minutes. There are six stations on it:
- "Factory";
- "Pokrovskaya";
- "Vokzalnaya";
- "The Freedom Avenue";
- Metallurgists;
- "Metrostroiteley".
Four of these stations are single-vaulted, two are columnar. Almost all of them are deep-level stations (except for "Pokrovskaya", which was laid down at a shallow depth). Some experts argue that the terrain and the state of the ground made it possible to avoid deep planting of the stations. But at the time of the start of construction, the metro was also considered as an object of civil defense.
The design style of most stations is very laconic. The most beautiful of them, perhaps, can be called "Pokrovskaya". Initially, the decoration of the stations was conceived to be more varied and original, but in the end, financial difficulties prevented them from translating these design ideas into reality.
Once the stations were named in honor of revolutionary events and leaders ("Barrikadnaya", "October" and so on), but later they were all changed.
The line connects the western districts of the city (where residential buildings and an industrial zone are located) with the railway station and the square located next to it. The metro was built according to the standard Soviet scheme, according to which the line should stretch from the main plant to the station, and then to the central part of the city (but it was not possible to connect the station to the center).
The metro uses trains consisting of three carriages. Previously, five-car trains used to run here. Currently, the rolling stock, serviced by a single depot, has only forty-five cars.
Working hours
The metro operates from 5:35 am, and the last passenger enters the station at exactly 11:00 pm. Sometimes this order is violated - for example, on holidays, sporting events, folk festivals.
History
Since there was a strict hierarchy in the USSR regarding the construction of subways, Dnepropetrovsk could not receive this type of transport before Kharkov, the second largest city with a million-plus population in the then Ukrainian SSR. There is a version that the metro was planned here during the so-called Cold War between the USSR and the USA. Since Dnepropetrovsk was the center of rocketry, the task arose to build the metro as an object of civil defense, and not as a transport network. It is precisely with this that almost all stations are deep, despite the fact that the relief of the city and geological surveys have shown the possibility not to spend that much money and to make a shallow branch.
There is also a version according to which Dnepropetrovsk competed with Krivoy Rog, a city of regional subordination. A metro tram was planned there, but in Soviet times it was in no way possible for the project to be implemented in the regional center earlier than in the regional one. Even the fact that Kryvyi Rih needed such a public transport system because of the specifics of the city itself - it was stretched in length and residents often had to spend 2-4 hours to cross it from one outskirts to another - did not stop the mayors of Dnepropetrovsk.
The decision to build a subway in Dnepropetrovsk was approved in the capital of the USSR in 1979.
Peculiarities
One of the main features of the Dnieper metro is that its construction has been going on for a very long time: it is one of the most famous long-term construction projects in the country. There are several reasons for this: these are political events and financial difficulties. It is known that metro employees sometimes did not receive their salaries for several months. Currently, the situation has improved, construction work is underway.
Another feature of the metro is its size. Some argue that it is the smallest metro on the planet, but this is not true. Once the Dnieper metro really was like that, but a lot of time has passed since then, shorter subways were built in the world. However, if the Dnieper metro is built as slowly as it is now, then in the future it may regain the palm (after all, most of the metro systems on the planet are developing quite dynamically).
There are usually few passengers on the metro. For example, the station "Vokzalnaya" (or rather, its lobby) is used by local residents mainly as an underground passage. When stations are built in the central part of the city, passenger traffic should increase dramatically.
Official site: www.metro.dp.ua
Dnepropetrovsk metro
