Line 1 of the

Saint Petersburg Metro The Saint Petersburg Metro () is a rapid transit system in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Construction began in early 1941, but was put on hold due to World War II and the subsequent Siege of Leningrad, during which the constructed stations were used a ...

, also known as ''Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line'' () or ''Red Line'', is the oldest

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 ...

line in

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 ...

, Russia, opened in 1955, which connects Kirovsky and Vyborgsky districts of the city. The original stations are very beautiful and elaborately decorated, especially Avtovo and Narvskaya. The line connects four out of five

's main

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

s. In 1995, a flooding occurred in a tunnel between Lesnaya and Ploschad Muzhestva stations and, for nine years, the line was separated into two independent segments (the gap was connected by a shuttle

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

route). The line is also one of the two lines in the network to feature shallow stations, the other being the

Nevsko-Vasileostrovskaya Line Line 3 of the Saint Petersburg Metro, also known as ''Nevsko-Vasileostrovskaya Line'' () or ''Green Line'', is a rapid transit line in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which connects city centre with the western and southeastern districts. It was opene ...

. The line cuts

centre on a northeast-southwest axis. In the south its alignment follows the shore of the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

. In the north it extends outside the city limits into the

Leningrad oblast Leningrad Oblast (, ; ; ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). The oblast has an area of and a population of 2,000,997 (2021 Russian census, 2021 Census); up from 1,716,868 recorded in the 2010 Russian census ...

(it is the only line to stretch beyond the city boundary). The Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line is generally coloured

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

o
Metro maps
and markup of this colour has been added to its stations for ease of passenger orientation; the new generation trains of carriages since 2010s also have their outside colour matching the colour of the line.

Timeline

* Upon the 1977 extension, the temporary station Dachnoye (which had been the terminus since 1966) and its tracks were demolished.

Name changes

Transfers

The transfer on Tekhnologichesky Institut is a cross-platform one. Last transfer to the

Frunzensko-Primorskaya Line Line 5 of the Saint Petersburg Metro, also known as ''Frunzensko-Primorskaya Line'' () or ''Purple Line'', is a newest rapid transit line in Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of ...

has opened via Pushkinskaya in 2008.

Rolling stock

Two depots serve the line, Avtovo (№ 1) and Severnoe (№ 4), although when the lines separated in 1995 the Severnoe served the northern section whilst the Avtovo, along with other depots took over the southern section. As there was a large surplus in the north, conventional railway was used to transfer many of the trains to other depots. Upon the reunification of the two sections, the Severnoe depot's park was restored and the line became the first to start using eight-carriage trains, of which currently 34 and 20 trains are assigned respectively to the metro. Most of them are E, Em, Ema, and Emx trains built in the 1960s and 1970s.

Recent developments and future plans

Given the age of most of the stations on this line, constant renovations take place to restore them. The

Vladimirskaya Vladimirsky (masculine), Vladimirskaya (feminine), Vladimirskoye (neuter) or variant spellings may refer to: Buildings *Vladimir Palace (''Vladimirsky dvorets''), an imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia * Vladimirskaya (Saint Petersburg Met ...

and Narvskaya stations closed for reconstruction from autumn 2006 until 2008. Debate continues over whether to open the controversial mosaic of

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

(located on Narvskaya station behind the service room) to the public. discussions have begun on extending the line southward.

References

Links

Saint Petersburg Metro official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Line 1 Of Saint Petersburg Metro Saint Petersburg Metro lines Railway lines opened in 1955 1955 establishments in Russia