The Kryvyi Rih Metrotram (

colloquially Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation am ...

: Kryvyi Rih Metro), officially the Kryvyi Rih Rapid Tram () is a partially underground rapid transit

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

system that serves the city of

Kryvyi Rih Kryvyi Rih ( ; , ), also known as Krivoy Rog ( ), is a city in central Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Kryvyi Rih Raion and its subordinate Kryvyi Rih urban hromada in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. The city is part of the Kryvyi Rih Metropo ...

, the seventh-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 ...

History

The design of the Metrotram seen in Kryvyi Rih has its roots in the socialist urban planning guidelines that were formulated in the 1960s, based on models of the emergence of new urban centers and the transport arrangements that would suit them, in particular, how a small settlement would grow into a full-sized city, and at which point a

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 would need to be built. Kryvyi Rih was chosen to test whether the construction of a full-scale metro system could be avoided by adopting a

design for a socialist city. The city had a developed tram network, but like most urban centers, overcrowding and widespread congestion proved too much for the light rail to serve as the main transport arteries. Moreover, the city was destroyed in

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 ...

and rebuilt, with all the requirements of a modern city considered in planning. The Metrotram was intended to serve only an interim, albeit necessary, role, with provision for conversion into a full

system. Construction began in the mid-1970s. In Kryvyi Rih, the Metrotram route was built from scratch, with most of the section running along the surface, except in the very center of the city and wherever it was required. All of the underground dimensions were made with provision for eventual conversion into a full metro system. Each metro station is an architectural monument for its neighborhood, in the style of late Soviet architecture. On 26 December 1986, the first long segment was opened with four stations, becoming the third underground rapid transit system 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

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

metros. Between 1988 and 1989, a second segment was opened in the southern direction with three additional stations, and after 1991, the line was extended northward, reaching in the year 2001 almost and 11 stations. In 2012, the southern end of the line was connected with the city's conventional

tram system A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include seg ...

and an additional route was created extending to the nearby metallurgical plant and closest tram stops. In Winter 2017, a new route towards ''NKGZK'' was launched, and also, route was extended to ''PivdHZK'' (Southern Mining and Processing Plant). On 1 May 2021 Kryvyi Rih became the first city in Ukraine to introduce free travel in public transport for its citizens. In order not to pay for municipal transport one must show a special electronic "Kryvyi Riher's Card".Free, but unpleasant. In Kryvyi Rih, the fare in transport, which needs urgent modernization, is being abolished

The Ukrainian Week ''The Ukrainian Week'' (, ) is an illustrated weekly magazine and news outlet covering politics, economics and the arts and aimed at the socially engaged Ukrainian-language reader. It provides a range of analysis, opinion, interviews, feature p ...

(21 April 2021). In Spring 2022 travel by city public transport became free for all passengers.

Timeline

Facts and figures

The system is operated by the city municipal company and has a total length of 17.7 km, 7 km of which (40%) are fully underground. The entire system has 11 stations: 4 of them are located underground, 3 stations have only underground vestibules and also 2 stations are

elevated An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...

— all built up to

metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

standard. In addition, there is one station, ''Vovnopriadylna'', that was built but is currently not opened due to the absence of passenger traffic in the area. There are four routes: ''Kiltseva — Maidan Pratsi'', ''Kiltseva — Zarichna'', ''Zarichna — NKGZK'' tram stop and ''Zarichna — PGZK'' tram stop, with a branch at ''Soniachna'', separating two lines. The

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

used on the system consists of

Tatra T3 The T3 is a type of Czech tramcar produced by ČKD Tatra. A late-2000s study conducted on the Prague tram system has shown 98.9% reliability, the best of the Prague tram system fleet. During its period of production between 1960 and 1999, 13 ...

tramcars in plenty different modifications. Two

depot Depot may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Glacier (disambiguation) * Depot Island (disambiguation) * Depot Nunatak * Depot Peak Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in Chicago, United States * Of ...

s serve the system: one is located near '' Maidan Pratsi'' station; the other one is situated in Tram Park in the southwestern edge of

Metalurhiinyi District The Metalurhiinyi District () is one of seven administrative urban districts (''raions'') of the city of Kryvyi Rih, located in southern Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, seco ...

. For more convenient tram turnarounds, there are turning circles at both ends of the lines, and there also are some more along the pathway.

Prospects for growth

When the

Soviet Union 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 ...

collapsed, the development of rapid transit systems in all of the former republics was deprived of funding and neglected. In many cases, cities that acquired a metro system in the late 1980s only gained an initial stretch with passenger flows barely making the systems significant. In metrotram cities, however, the reverse was the case. The KRMT carries 40 million people annually, with a record of 56 million in 1997. The light rail's compatibility and low construction costs have shown it to be superior to the "hard rail" in every respect, and, unlike the metros in some other post-Soviet cities, KR Metro now functions as an important traffic artery.

Network Map

References

{{Rapid transit in Europe Transport in Kryvyi Rih Light rail in Ukraine

Rapid transit in Ukraine {{Commons cat, Rapid transit in Ukraine Ukraine 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 ea ...