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The Kharkiv Metro () is the
rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
system that serves the city of
Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.
, the second largest city in
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. The metro was the second in Ukraine (after
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
) and the sixth in the
USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
when it opened on 22–23 August,The official opening ceremony was held on 22 August, with the Metro system being opened to the general public on 23 August. 1975.Official Web Site
(24 June 2019)
The metro consists of three lines that operate on of the route and serve 30 stations. The system transported 223 million passengers in 2018 (up from 212.85 million in 2017).


History

Initial plans for a rapid transit system in Kharkiv were made when the city was the capital of the
Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...
. However, after the capital moved to
Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
in 1934 and Kharkiv suffered heavy destruction during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a rapid transit system was dropped from the agenda. In the mid-1960s, the existing mass transit system became too strained, and construction of the metro began in 1968. Seven years later, on 23 August 1975, the first eight-station segment of was put into use. The metro does not have the beautiful and excessive decorations that stations in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
and
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
metros show, yet they do make the best of the mid-1970s and later styles. While a metro token is shown below, since 2012 it can no longer be used in Kharkiv. Kharkiv Metro operations were suspended on 17 March 2020 to prevent
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
spread. To compensate for the lack of a metro, the city administration implemented a series of changes in the tram, trolleybus, and bus routes of the city. The metro was reopened on 25 May 2020; face masks or respirators were mandated to wear for passengers. During the Battle of Kharkiv of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...
, the metro was used as a bomb shelter. On 19 May 2022, Kharkiv mayor
Ihor Terekhov Ihor Oleksandrovych Terekhov (; born 14 January 1967) is a Ukrainian politician who is serving as the mayor of Kharkiv since 11 November 2021. He ascended to the mayoralty on 24 December 2020 following Hennadiy Kernes' death due to COVID-19 co ...
announced that the metro would restart operations and that residents should move out of the metro system. In September 2023 small schools were created in five metro stations so that education would continue during the ongoing Russian bombing of Kharkiv. In September 2023 the remaining
Russian-language Russian is an East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is the native language of the Russians. It was the ''de facto'' and ''de j ...
inscriptions then still visible on the walls of Kharkiv metro stations were replaced with ones in the
Ukrainian language Ukrainian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language, spoken primarily in Ukraine. It is the first language, first (native) language of a large majority of Ukrainians. Written Ukrainian uses the Ukrainian alphabet, a variant of t ...
.


On 29 April 2024, the stations Pushkinska and Pivdennyi Vokzal were renamed to Yaroslava Mudroho and Vokzalna accordingly. On 26 July 2024, the stations Heroiv Pratsi, Zavod Imeni Malysheva and Prospekt Haharina were renamed to Saltivska, Zavodska, and
Levada Levada may refer to: * Levada (Madeira) - an irrigation channel or aqueduct on the island of Madeira. * Levada, Cape Verde, a village on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde * Levada, a district in Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the ...
respectively.


Lines and stations

Currently, there are three lines and 30 stations as follows: Stations open at 5:30am and close at 11:59pm (the last train departs at around 12:10am, depending on the line) without operations at nighttime except for special occasions, such as the New Year's Eve, the nightly Easter service and the like. The lines are arranged in the form of a triangle with all junction stations located in the city center and lines extending from there radially, a classic design for many ex-USSR metro systems. The whole of the system is located within the city boundaries without extending to
Kharkiv Oblast Kharkiv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Kharkivshchyna (), is an oblast (province) in eastern Ukraine. Kharkiv borders Luhansk Oblast to the east, Donetsk Oblast to the southeast, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast to the southwest, Poltava Oblast to the w ...
, however, the new Oleksiivske Depot, which is currently under construction, will be located immediately behind the current municipal boundary. Each line has two junction stations connecting it to the other two lines, thus providing the possibility to change from any line to any other line with a single junction. The Vokzalna station is integrated into the city's
main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
of the same name and provides access to all passenger platforms, cash offices and other facilities without the necessity to exit to the surface. All stations have two tracks with an island platform between them. The stations and lines are located below the ground level except for tracks inside depots and a single metro bridge connecting stations Kyivska and Akademika Barabashova on the
Saltivska line The Saltivska line (, ) is the second line of the Kharkiv Metro operating since 1984, serving Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The Saltivska Line is the shortest line segment of the system, at , with a total of eight stations. Unique ...
. The bridge, however, does not provide any view of the city as it is fully enclosed with non-transparent walls and a roof. The decision to make the metro fully enclosed was made primarily to protect it from heavy snowfalls that often occur in winter, a decision that proved to be right on many occasions, when the metro remained the only mode of passenger transportation functioning in the city.


Line 1 (Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line)

It is the oldest and the longest line in the Kharkiv Metro with the highest ridership rates and shortest time intervals. Its color is red. The line was built along the so-called 'central axis' of the city roughly crossing it from East to West. The line serves Prospekt Heroiv Kharkova (in soviet times called Moskovskyi Prospekt), a street where some of the biggest enterprises in the former USSR were located (often called the 'alley of industrial giants'), as well as important transport hubs, the city's main stadium, etc. It replaced, partially or completely, the tram and trolleybus lines with the highest passenger ridership at the time of its construction. Although the ridership pattern has changed considerably since then, the line remains the most important route for passenger transportation in the city. The ''Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska Line'' starts in the heavily industrialized area colloquially referred to as
Kharkiv Tractor Plant Kharkiv Tractor Plant (KhTZ or HTZ) () is an agricultural machinery manufacturer in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Established in 1930–31, as a centerpiece of Stalin's First Five-Year Plan for Soviet industrialization (1927–32), KhTZ was Ukr ...
, and follows along Prospekt Heroiv Kharkova for six stations (from Industrialna to
Turboatom Ukrainian Energy Machines Joint Stock Company "Turboatom", commonly known as just Turboatom (), is a state enterprise responsible for power engineering in Ukraine. The company specializes in the production and maintenance of steam and other turbin ...
), connecting the city's largest enterprises and the residential areas located nearby. It continues through Zavodska, one more heavily industrialized area, and arrives at the Sportyvna station, where it is possible to change for the Metrobudivnykiv station of the
Oleksiivska line The Oleksiivska line (, ) is the third and newest line of the Kharkiv Metro that was opened in 1995. The Oleksiivska line is the second longest in the system at and contains a total of nine stations, with Peremoha (Kharkiv Metro), Peremoha being ...
. The station also provides access to the central stadium of Kharkiv, Metalist. After that, the line follows through
Levada Levada may refer to: * Levada (Madeira) - an irrigation channel or aqueduct on the island of Madeira. * Levada, Cape Verde, a village on the island of Santiago, Cape Verde * Levada, a district in Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the ...
, a very important transport hub located near the city center, and runs through the 'old' (historical) center for two stations, Maidan Konstytutsii and Tsentralnyi Rynok. Then, it passes through two more large transport hubs, the city's
main railway station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...
at Vokzalna, and a large terminal for suburban buses at Kholodna Hora. Out of the 13 stations composing the line, three are laid deep (Maidan Konstytutsii, Vokzalna and Kholodna Hora); all the others are laid shallow. The line is served by the ''TCh-1 Nemyshlianske'' depot, with Kharkiv's oldest vehicles of types ''Ezh3'' and ''Em-508T'', a few trains composed of newer
81-717/714 The 81-717/714 is a Soviet/Russian metro car model, designed in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s. The cars were made from 1976 to 2014 by Metrovagonmash and the I. E. Yegorov Vagonmash factories of Mytishchi and Saint Petersburg, respectively. ...
vehicles and five recently modernized ''81–710.1'' trains. The intervals are 1–2 minutes during rush hours, 3–5 minutes in-between, and extend up to 15 minutes after 9pm. During the summer vacation season (June–August), intervals can be longer. All trains operate the whole length of the line, from ''Industrialna'' to ''Kholodna Hora'', except for short trips from ''Kholodna Hora'' to ''Turboatom'' and from ''Turboatom'' to ''Industrialna''. Such trips are usually made around 2–3 p.m. and late in the evening to replace trains on the line or withdraw them to the depot for the night service period, as access is available only through the ''Turboatom'' station.


Line 2 (Saltivska line)

The ''Saltivska Line'' is historically the second line of the Kharkiv Metro. Although the ''Oleksiivska Line'' has surpassed it in terms of line length, ''Saltivska Line'' remains second in terms of ridership rates and service frequency. Its color is blue. The line cuts Kharkiv roughly along the northeast-southwest axis starting in the city center and ends in the Saltivka neighborhood in the North-East. The first plans for constructing the line appeared in the mid-1970s when the city started developing high-rise residential housing on the Saltivske Plateau, a large and flat area near the northeast boundaries of the city. The area was to become the largest residential neighborhood in Europe at the time of its construction. However, it was supposed to be located far from the main points of passenger attraction, such as industrial areas, transport hubs, leisure facilities and the like. Thus, the need for a strong link between the neighborhood and other parts of the city became evident. The construction of the line was performed simultaneously with the development of Saltivka, which helped cut the cost of construction considerably. The section from Akademika Barabashova to Saltivska was constructed using the
cut-and-cover A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two Portal (architecture), portals common at each end, though ther ...
method for tunnels, which is the cheapest one. The stations located on the line are acclaimed for their concise, yet unique and attractive design. The line also features the Kharkiv Metro's only metro bridge. Initially, it was planned to fork the line at Akademika Barabashova so that there would be two branches, one of them passing Saltivka from south to north (which is currently in operation) and the other one passing the neighborhood from west to east. According to initial plans, half of the trains arriving from the city center would then follow the south-north branch and the other half would follow the west-east one, alternating in sequence. The south-north branch was never constructed due to financial difficulties and is currently substituted by route 24 of the Kharkiv Trolleybus. The ''Saltivska Line'' starts in the "old" (historical) center of the city at the Istorychnyi Muzei station, which also provides a transfer to Maidan Konstytutsii on the ''Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska Line''. After leaving the station, the line follows a long and steep ascend to the Universytet station located in the heart of the "new" (business) center, under one of the largest squares in Europe, Svobody Square. It provides a transfer to the Derzhprom station on the ''Oleksiivska Line''. Then, the line passes one more station in the city center, Yaroslava Mudroho, and performs a steep dive into the city's lowest part, ''Zhuravlivka''. After a short visit to ''Zhuravlivka'' at Kyivska, the line crosses the
Kharkiv River The Kharkiv or Kharkov (, ) is a river in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine, a left tributary of the Lopan. It originates from the town of Oktyabrsky in Belgorod Oblast, Russia and it falls into Lopan in the city of Kharkiv. The river Kharkiv may have g ...
via the metro bridge and enters the Saltivka neighborhood. The rest of the stations, from Akademika Barabashova to Saltivska are located within the neighborhood, laid approximately at the same (shallow) depth. The line is characterized by a severe increase in ridership during rush hours and the strong influence of ''Barabashovo Market'', which claims to be the largest market in Europe (located near Akademika Barabashova station, which gave the market its name). The market operates from roughly 8a.m. to 3p.m., increasing the passenger traffic considerably during the morning rush hours, especially on Wednesday, traditionally the discounts day. The traffic on the line also has a distinct student ridership pattern: most of Kharkiv's higher educational establishments are located around the Istorychnyi Muzei, Universytet, and Yaroslava Mudroho stations, but the respective student dormitories are located near the Studentska station. Saltivska is an important transport hub providing connections to the city's most important tram routes and serving a bus station for suburban routes.Out of the eight stations on the line, three are laid deep ( Istorychnyi Muzei, Universytet, and Yaroslava Mudroho); all the others are laid shallow. Yaroslava Mudroho is the deepest station in the system at 30 meters (98 ft) underground. The line is served by depot ''TCh-2 Saltivske'' with Soviet-era
81-717/714 The 81-717/714 is a Soviet/Russian metro car model, designed in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s. The cars were made from 1976 to 2014 by Metrovagonmash and the I. E. Yegorov Vagonmash factories of Mytishchi and Saint Petersburg, respectively. ...
trains and a single domestically produced 81-7036/7037 trainset. Access to the depot is provided via the Akademika Barabashova station. The intervals are 3–5 minutes during rush hours, 5–6 minutes in-between, and extend up to 20 minutes after 9pm. During the summer vacation season (June–August), intervals can be longer. All trains operate the whole length of the line, from ''Istorychnyi Muzei'' to ''Saltivska''. Starting from 2001, because of power supply issues, every fourth train that operated on the line between rush hours served only the ''Istorychnyi Muzei – Akademika Barabashova'' segment. The practice was abandoned by the end of 2002 when the power supply normalized.


Line 3 (Oleksiivska line)

The Oleksiivska line is historically the third line in the system and the second longest line in the Metro. The line does not have an individual depot; it is served by the same depot as the Kholodnohirsko-Zavodska line, though a new depot for the line is under construction. In August 2016, the Peremoha station became the first Kharkiv Metro station with disabled access.


Saltivsko-Zavodska Line

The line is supposed to have a similar route to the tram route 26, which since 2022 is no longer functioning. Construction of the line is scheduled to start after the opening of the Derzhavynska and Odeska stations on the Oleksiivska line, construction of which was stopped in 2022.


Facts and numbers

On Easter night from 19 to 20 April 2009 (from 00:30 to 02:00), a concert of the academic symphony orchestra of the
Kharkiv Philharmonic Society The Kharkiv Philharmonic Society () is a leading musical organization in Ukraine, promoting classical music, contemporary music, and Ukrainian folk music. The leading group active in the Philharmonic is the Academic Symphony Orchestra, whose prin ...
under the direction of conductor Yuri Yanko took place on the platform of the Universytet station. The concert attracted about 5,000 listeners. There were subway trains on both sides of the platform during the concert for the safety of spectators. When the concert ended, the two trains took the audience in different directions. At the beginning of August 2009, in the lobby of the Universytet station, on the 34th anniversary of the completion of its construction, a monument to the metro builder was unveiled, immediately nicknamed the "
Tin Woodman Nick Chopper, the Tin Woodman, or the Tin Man, is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum. He first appeared in his 1900 book '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and reappeared in many other subsequent Oz ...
". The monument represents a post-constructivist "worker" made from scraps of metal and springs, pierced by a rail, wearing an orange construction helmet. According to the then director of the metro, Sergey Museev, the sculpture "symbolizes the hard work of metro residents who have been working underground for years". According to passengers, this character "only scares children". On 3 February 2010, the monument was moved to the metro control building. As for 2020, the Kharkiv Metro had daily passenger traffic of 350,000 passengers. 2300 employees work in the metro. Because of the city's uneven landscape, the metro stations are located at varying depths. Six of the system's 30 stations are deep-level stations, and the remaining are shallow. Of the former, all but one are pylon type, and the latter are column type. The shallow stations are fourteen pillar-trispans and eight single vaults. Kharkiv was the first metro to exhibit the single vault design of the shallow type (for technical details, see Skhodnenskaya). The metro is served by two depots which have a total of 320 carriages forming 59 five-car trainsets (all of the platforms are exactly long). In 2015, new trains were introduced to the metro. The metro was directly subordinated to the Ministry of Transport of Ukraine. Unlike the
Kyiv Metro The Kyiv Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv, Ukraine, owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivskyi Metropoliten''.'' It was initially opened on 6 November 1960, as a single line with five stations. I ...
, Kharkiv is not privatized and is owned by a municipal company. In 2009, the Ministry transferred the metro to the city administration. In 2020, Chinese manufacturer
CRRC Tangshan CRRC Tangshan Co., Ltd., is a manufacturer of rolling stock located in Tangshan, Hebei province, People's Republic of China. While Datong built mainline steam locomotives until 1988, Tangshan built steam for industrial use until 1999, becoming th ...
was selected as the winner of a contract to supply eight five-car trainsets for the Kharkiv metro, which were scheduled for delivery in 2022. The trains were to be 96.7 m long and 2,700 mm wide with a maximum speed of 80 km/h. The €45m deal announced on 27 May includes the provision of spare parts, tools and support services.


Rolling stock


Ticketing

Metro refused to sell tokens through ticket offices in 2010. Instead of cash registers, ticket machines and electronic card top-up machines are installed at each station. The installation of automatic machines began at the Maidan Konstytutsii station of the
Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line The Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line (, ) is a line of the Kharkiv Metro, serving Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, Machine-readable data, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly ref ...
tickets * contactless card
E-Ticket An electronic ticket is a method of ticket entry, processing, and marketing for companies in the airline, railways and other transport and entertainment industries. Airline ticket E-tickets in the airline industry were devised in about 1994, an ...
* contactless bank card (as well as a smartphone or other
NFC NFC usually refers to: * Near-field communication, a set of communication protocols for electronic devices * National Football Conference, part of US National Football League NFC may also refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychol ...
-enabled device) on blue-colored turnstiles directly E-Ticket cards or paper barcode tickets can be purchased using terminals installed on stations. Terminals accept cash only. E-Ticket cards can be also used in the Kharkiv tram, trolleybus and municipal red bus. Using the metro system, along with all municipal public transport, became free starting at 24 February 2022.


Network map


See also

*
Trams in Kharkiv The Kharkiv tram () is part of the public transport system of the second largest city of Ukraine. The tram system has a "Russian Standard" track gauge of . The tram network is built almost exclusively on the streets of Kharkiv, making it a tradit ...
*
Kyiv Metro The Kyiv Metro (, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv, Ukraine, owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivskyi Metropoliten''.'' It was initially opened on 6 November 1960, as a single line with five stations. I ...
*
Dnipro Metro The Dnipro Metro () is a single-line rapid transit system that serves the city of Dnipro, the fourth largest city in Ukraine by population. The metro was the third system constructed in Ukraine, after the Kyiv Metro, Kyiv and Kharkiv Metro, Khar ...
*
Kryvyi Rih Metrotram The Kryvyi Rih Metrotram (Colloquialism, colloquially: Kryvyi Rih Metro), officially the Kryvyi Rih Rapid Tram () is a semi-metro, partially underground rapid transit light rail system that serves the city of Kryvyi Rih, the seventh-largest ci ...


Notes


References


External links


Kharkiv Metro – official site

Kharkiv Metro – unofficial website

Kharkiv Metro track map






– Photographs
Kharkiv Transportny
– Popular site with resources and images {{Rapid transit in Europe Underground rapid transit in Ukraine Transport in Kharkiv 1975 in Ukraine