Soviet Moscow's Metro, 1960

Michael Laxer

11 minutes ago3 min read

From USSR Magazine, January 1960:

A METRO ride is one of the sightseeing musts for a tourist in Moscow. Its stations are not the dismal underground waiting rooms one associates with a subway. They are more akin to palace halls with their wealth of marble, granite, ceramics, stained glass and their display of paintings and sculptured figures. Distinguished artists and craftsmen were recruited to make riders forget they are deep underground.

Every station has its own unmistakable signature. Sculptured figures of athletes advise the passenger that this is Sports Station with exits to the huge Lenin Stadium in Luzhniki. Kiev Station is decorated with mosaic panels illustrating the fraternity of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples. Passing through the Byelorussia Station, the rider feels as though he were making a tour of that republic. Riga Station is a panoramic display of the progress of Latvia.

The Moscow Metro was opened in 1935, and construction has not halted since. New lines have been added continually to link more and more sections of the city with each other. The 5.6 miles of the first line has stretched to 60 miles now. By 1965 the Metro will be 85 miles long, and by 1975 it will extend for 155 miles.

Moscow is a very old city that grew up around the Kremlin. Its major thoroughfares — at one time they were roads leading to other cities— radiate in all directions from the center. As the city grew , it was circled first by the Boulevard Ring and then by the Park Ring. The Metro follows this radial arrangement and also has one circle line.

Both the old and the new city districts, the railroad terminals, big stadiums, parks and exhibition grounds are all served by the Metro. You can cross from one end of Moscow to the other in half an hour, very much faster than by any other means of transportation. The Metro, say statisticians, saves every rider at least 240 hours a year that used to be spent in streetcars or buses.

Trains run, on the average, at 90-second intervals. The automatic block system and other such technical improvements make travel absolutely safe. The air in the stations is renewed at least four times an hour. Most of the lines are built quite deep, with escalators from street to station as long as 200 feet and more. Other lines, built near the surface, are reached by short flights of stairs. Some of the more recent lines are at street level. The Metro lines go under the Moscow River at several points, but there are also two specially built Metro bridges.

During its first year of operation the Metro carried an average of 170,000 passengers daily; now it carries more than 3 million. Besides having the greatest passenger handling capacity and being the speediest form of transport in the city, it is also quite cheap. The fare is five kopecks (four and a half cents at the new rate of exchange) , and transfers from one line to another are free.

The signature of the Moscow Metro is this big M atop the station. Its trains cross the city, from one end to the other, in half an hour.

Lenin Hills Station is built on a bridge across the Moscow River with exits on both banks. The upper tier is used for auto traffic.

All recreation areas are within easy reach by Metro. Sports Station near Lenin Stadium, Moscow's largest amphitheater.

Breaking ground in 1932 for the first line of the Metro. It opened for passengers on May Day, 1935, with 5.6 miles of track and ten stations. The Metro is now 60 miles long, and new lines are being built continually. By 1965 it will be 85 miles long, and by 1975 it will extend for 155 miles. The fare is 5 kopecks (4 1/2¢ at the new rate of exchange) , and transfers are free.