The Samara underground. History of development

The stormy sixties were going on. The country quickly rebuilt and looked optimistically into the future. In Kuibyshev (real name - Samara) a transportation problem was brewing - the city grew up, and with it the population, the amount of transport. The idea to build a subway has been brewing for a very long time. The facility was renamed the Samara Metro on April 1, 1991.

Development

Mayor of the city from 1964 to 1982 Alexey Rosovsky was a very far-sighted person and understood that without radical changes in three decades the city can stand in one big traffic jam. It was necessary to urgently unload the trunk lines and send a part of the passengers underground. The initiative group of the city executive committee, led by the mayor, substantiated the necessity of building the metro in 1968.

Unfortunately, the process was proceeding slowly, and real implementation of the technical project began only ten years later.

Especially for the construction of such a grandiose facility as the Samara Metro, a factory of reinforced concrete structures, auxiliary enterprises, necessary for the fulfillment of the project were built in the city, engineering facilities were transferred - pipes, communications, etc.

Building

The grandiose construction work of the Samara metro was started from the station "Kirovskaya" in the distant 1980.

In 1981, a three-hundred-ton tunneling shield began its work . The encountered dolomite rocks did not allow us to reach the initial speed indicators. Groundwater and a serious level difference only complicated the work. But the stations of the Samara subway eventually managed to be joined by the heroic efforts of sinkers and mine surveyors in March 1982.

1983 - the beginning of the construction of the station "Victory". Samara metro, the scheme of which is presented in the article, was supplemented in 1984 with new stations under construction - "Gagarinskaya" and "Sportivnaya", a new unique passage shield was already working in the direction of Sovetskaya station.

1986 - the beginning of the construction of the station "Yungorodok".

In total, four stations were ready for the opening. Before 1993, three more were commissioned.

Only in 2002 the station "Moskovskaya" was opened. And in 2007 - "Russian". And in 2015 - Alabinskaya.

Start of movement

In May 1987, a group of suburban electric locomotive drivers was sent to study in Kharkov, Kiev and Minsk.

On November 1, a test electric load was given to the network.

On the sixth day the first train drove through the still empty stations.

Despite the fact that the project was not completed until the end, the day before the official opening, the state commission accepts the facility. It was necessary to be in time for the anniversary of the October coup.

The first trains for the transportation of passengers were sent from the Kirovskoe electric depot on December 26, 1987. Samara subway became the twelfth in the USSR.

In the following 1988, almost thirteen million people used the services of the new mode of transport.

The metro became so popular that the local travel agency put it on the list of places that must be visited.

Mobile park

The first wagons were manufactured at the Metrowagonmash plant (series 81-717, which was developed since 1976).

In 1990, the mobile park consisted of 32 units. Currently - almost 50.

Stations

Each station of the Soviet subway has its own distinctive feature. Samara subway was not an exception.

- Station "Kirovskaya" arched.

- "Bezymyanka" - a tribute to the enterprises of the city, which produced aviation and other details for the front, as shown in the ornament.

- "Victory" - the image of a festive salute.

- "Sports" - elements of sports.

- "Gagarin" - the theme of the cosmos.

Interesting Facts

• During the construction of tunnels on the facility, the passage of the railway trains did not stop.
• Samara subway is famous for its shortened trains - four cars. There are usually six in the Moscow subway.
• The speed of movement is up to seventy kilometers per hour.
• The interval is from four to seven minutes.
• The diameter of the tunnels is five and a half meters. Almost one and a half times more similar facilities in London's metro. These dimensions make it possible to use more spacious cars.
• At all stations there is a possibility of receiving a cellular signal.
• The original tokens were made of metal. But in 1992 they were replaced by plastic ones.

Prospects

To date, the Samara Metro has ten stations, located on one branch with a length of almost thirteen kilometers.

Approximately in 2018, it is planned to open a second line. It will consist of six stations. In the future, it is planned to build a third branch.

These facts give confidence in the development in the coming decades. Already in the near future, most of the passengers will be able to travel around the city underground, which will significantly relieve the land part of Samara. And also reduce emissions and pollution.