Almaty Metro
| First line | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Almaty Metro (Kazakh: Алматы метрополитені; Russian: Алматинский метрополитен) is a rapid transit system in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The first line of the system was opened on 1 December 2011, after more than 23 years of construction. [1] The metro system became the second metro in Central Asia, after the Tashkent Metro in Uzbekistan, and the sixteenth metro in the former Soviet Union region.
Contents |
[edit] System
Upon completion, the metro system will total 45 km in length.
The first section of Line 1 has a length of 8.56 km and seven stations (four deep-level stations and three sub-surface stations). 7 trains operate on the first line. The construction cost is estimated at 101 billion tenge ($1 billion).
The metro will expand in the future. Construction of Sairan and Molodejnaya stations has started in 2011.
[edit] Construction
Construction on the system commenced in 1988 when Kazakhstan was still part of the Soviet Union. However, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, funds from Moscow dried up and the new Kazakhstani government was unable to continue construction. Efforts to preserve the already-completed work were made, but the high cost led to the accumulation of large debts to construction workers.
In 2003, the government of Kazakhstan laid out a new development initiative which included government funds for continued construction on the metro. By 2005, the construction programme, now under the control of President Nursultan Nazarbayev received commitments for 72 million tenge from 2006-2008.
[edit] System
Update 05/2007 (Alexei Bobko): There was the connection of the right tunnel between stations Almaty and Abai (Zhetysu on map above) at night from the 24th to the 25th of May. The tunnel is 1,217 m in length. At the place of connection it is situated at a depth of 73 meters. Earlier in May TBM " Herrenknecht" was launched from Abai toward Baikonur. This tunnel (1526 metres in length) is to be finished by the end of 2007. Another tunnel on this span is to be finished in the middle of 2008.
Construction of the first metro line began in 1985 and so far 7.5 km have been excavated although in the last two years only 200 m were built. By the end of the year 2000, $550 million should be raised to finish the first stretch including 8 stations within 2–3 years. (Interfax, 14 Oct 2000) The Turkish consortium Eko-Uzman has been selected to complete the metro line in 2 years.
[edit] References
- American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, Press Release on Construction
- Detailed article on Construction, Expert Online, Стройка двух веков, Alia Shalabaeva, 11/7/05 (Russian)
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Almaty Metro |
- Almaty Metro Track Map
- UrbanRail on the Almaty Metro
- Subways.net Almaty Metro
- The Atlantic Cities - In Kazakhstan, A Beautiful, Futuristic New Subway System
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
