- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
The metro project in the city of Tbilisi was developed at one time under the auspices of Stalin. For the first time, words about the need to build underground transport were heard in the post-war years - in 1952. The main indicator of the need for this type of transport was the line of a million inhabitants, but at the time of the decree on the laying of the metro there were only 600 thousand inhabitants in Tbilisi. However, the decision was made and construction began.
Initially, the ambitions of the leader of the peoples painted the Tbilisi metro as significant and beautiful as in Moscow. Geological and geographical conditions were considered favorable, with about 2,500 people (both civilian and military) involved in the design and construction. The first section of the Tbilisi metro "Didube" - "Rustaveli" was inaugurated on January 11, 1966. This site connected the central Rustaveli Avenue with the residential area (sleeping, as they would say now) Didube. The first line consisted of six stations.
Already in 1979, the second metro line was opened in Tbilisi, and a year later they started talking about the third. Unfortunately, the coming perestroika and the economic crisis that accompanied it did not allow the plans to be realized. Today, the Tbilisi metro has undergone reconstruction, modernized and is a popular public transport in the Georgian capital.
Fare and where to buy tickets
Today, metro travel is paid for with plastic cards. Previously valid tokens have been replaced by a more modern means of payment. The security deposit for the card is 2 GEL, and the cost of one trip is 50 tetri (0.5 GEL). The Metromoney card is sold and replenished at metro ticket offices at stations. The collateral value can be returned (relevant for tourists) if a check for 2 GEL (deposit) is kept. The card is replenished here, at the ticket office at any metro station.
Interestingly, within an hour and a half from the moment you enter the subway, you can use the map and drive on city bus routes as well. This is beneficial for residents of the dormitory districts of Tbilisi and works due to the fact that both the metro and bus transportation are managed by the municipal "Tbilisi Transport Company". It is also suitable for travel on the cable car "Park Rike - Fortress Narikala" (travel costs 1 GEL) and large yellow city minibuses (0, 8 GEL).
Metro lines
Now the Tbilisi metro has two lines: Akhmeteli-Varketilskaya and Saburtalinskaya.
Akhmeteli-Varketilskaya has a length of 19.6 km. Her stations (from terminal to terminal):
- "Akhmetelis theaters".
- "Sarajishvili".
- Guramishvili.
- "Grmagele".
- "Didube".
- "Gotsiridze".
- Nadzaladevi.
- "Sadguris moedani-1".
- "Marjanishvili".
- Rustaveli.
- Tavisuplebis Moedani.
- Avlabari.
- "300 Aragveli".
- Isani.
- Samgori.
- "Varketili".
At present, there are 16 stations in operation, three more on this line were designed and even began to be built. Transitions to another line are envisaged at two stations - one of the stations is not yet operational due to the fact that the third line has not yet been opened.
The Saburtala line is 9.4 km long. Her stations (from terminal to terminal):
- "Sadguris moedani-2".
- "Tsereteli".
- Technikuri University.
- "Samedicino University".
- Delisi.
- "Vazha-Pshavela".
- "State University".
At one station, a transition to another line is provided.
Working hours
Tbilisi metro operates from 6 am to midnight. During peak hours, the interval in movement between trains is 2.5 minutes, but at other times it varies and ranges from 3 to 12 minutes at different times.
History
In the Tbilisi metro, everything was at once non-standard: since Stalin personally kept his finger on the pulse of its design, in many moments it was an innovative project. At the time of the construction of the first stations, the military took part in the process along with civilian metro builders. At the very beginning, everything happened quickly, but when it came to construction, the metro project was frozen more than once due to lack of funding. This explains the fact that the first train was launched already 14 years after the decree on the construction of a metro in Tbilisi.
Immediately after the construction of the metro in Georgia, it was inferior in size to only three in the USSR - Moscow, Leningrad and Kiev. Now he is the second in the Transcaucasia, ahead of him only Erevan.
16 years ago, Georgia mobilized all its forces and completely reconstructed the metro in the capital. This affected both the technical part and the arrangement of stations, repair of coatings. Today, most of the cars are new, with improved comfort. It is also important that tokens were at one time replaced by cards - this indicates the modernity of the system.
Peculiarities
Most of the stations on both working lines are deep, which means that they are all equipped with escalators. The third line, which is still at the design stage, is different - its stations are classified as shallow, and there are enough flights of stairs to descend to the platform.
This metro is the third in the post-Soviet space - after the Moscow and Baku metros - where they completely abandoned the use of tokens as a fare payment. Today, one can get to the station only by applying a plastic card to the reader. The stations are announced in two languages at once - Georgian and English (international), the names of the stations are also signed.
Despite the fact that the stations are designed to receive trains of 5 cars, now on the long line (line 1) there are 4-car trains, and on the short line (line 2) - 3-car trains. So far, an increase in trains is not expected, although the passenger traffic is constantly increasing.
The metro is managed by the municipal "Tbilisi Transport Company". Tbilisi Metro Official Site: Tbilisi Metro
