In the Soviet Union, it was decided that every city with a population of more than one million should have its own metro. I must say that the decisions of those years were carried out and did not depend on external factors. Samara is one of the first cities to receive such a right.
History of the Samara Metro
Work on a new mode of transport began in 1968. It took almost ten years to prepare a detailed feasibility study and conduct all the necessary studies. By 1977, a promising metro scheme was proposed. Samara began to prepare for construction. A decision was received from the Council of Ministers of the USSR on the development of a technical project. Already in 1980, the first tunnel squad began underground work.
A promising project provided for the construction of the first stage to lay three branches and then increase their number to five. Make a tunnel under the Volga to Samarskaya Luka.
The ceremonial laying of the start of construction was made indowntown. These are the current "Russian" and "Alabinskaya". But, the real work was carried out closer to the factory areas. Today, it is Bezymyanka and Kirovskaya.
Today
Unfortunately, the grandiose construction plans were not destined to be completed. The Soviet Union was gone, the development of the metro stopped. They managed to lay only one branch, on which there are 10 stations. The first section from "Yungorodka" to the station "Victory" was commissioned in 1987. In Samara, the metro scheme began with four stations. 7 years have passed, then the pace slowed down. By the collapse of the country, they managed to build three more, and the merry nineties came. It took almost ten years to commission another station on the Gagarinskaya-Moskovskaya section. Only by 2007 was the Moscow-Rossiyskaya section commissioned.
Finally, 2014 pleased with a new section to Alabinskaya, but it really started working only in 2017. Only 35 years have passed since the builders returned to the start of work. In Samara, the metro scheme began to consist of 10 stations.
Let's look to the future
There was hope that the city's economy began to revive again. Perhaps in less than a decade, the Samara metro scheme will increase by another three stations. Construction is being planned or is already underway at the Samarskaya and Teatralnaya stations, between Kirovskaya and Krylya Sovetov. This will complete the work on the first branch.
Design work is underway on the construction of the second branch between Khlebnaya Square andOrlovskaya. The line with six stations will stretch for 9.57 km. After the launch of its first stage, the subway will naturally begin to play a more significant role in the life of the city. Will finally cross the 10% milestone of all citywide transportation.
It is difficult to say when the city will return to the original design and finally 33 stations will be on the metro map. Samara will become the owner of a full-fledged underground transport, with a total length of 41.3 km. We can recall two more branches of the second phase of construction.
