New Athos Cave Railway
| New Athos Cave Railway | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 New Athos subway train, built in Riga. | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | New Athos Cave | ||
| Locale | New Athos | ||
| Termini | |||
| Stations | 3[1] | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Metro | ||
| Rolling stock | 3 trains | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | 4 July 1975 | ||
| Technical | |||
| Line length | 1.291 km (0.802 mi)[1] | ||
| Number of tracks | Single track | ||
| Track gauge | 914 mm (3 ft)[1] | ||
| Electrification | 300 V DC[1] | ||
| Operating speed | 30 km/h (19 mph)[1] | ||
| |||
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New Athos Cave Railway (Template:Lang-ab; Template:Lang-ru), also knowns as New Athos Subway, is an underground electric railroad serving the New Athos Cave, in the town of New Athos, Georgia (Abkhazia).
Route
The line is a single track and electrified narrow gauge railway with a third rail. Opened in 1975, it has a length of 1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi) and three stations. It starts at the entrance of the caves, nearby Psyrtscha station of the Abkhazian railway. From the Entrance Gate station, it reaches two cave halls: Apsny Hall (or Abkhazia) and Anakopea Hall. Apsny station serves to lead the tourists at the beginnings of the show cave, and Anakopea to bring them back to the entrance gate, at the end of the tour. The line counts a depot just before Entrance station, and a service tunnel between it and Apsny.[1][2]
| Station | Russian name | km | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entrance Gate | Входные Ворота (Vkhodnye Vorota) |
0.00
|
 Link to Abkhazian railway at the nearby station of Psyrtscha 43°05′26″N 40°48′36″E / 43.09065°N 40.810008°E |
| Hall Apsny (Abkhazia) | Зал Апсны (Zal Apsny) |
1.00
|
43°05′59″N 40°48′40″E / 43.09959°N 40.81114°E |
| Hall Anakopea | Зал Анакопия (Zal Anakopiya) |
1.29
|
43°06′07″N 40°48′41″E / 43.10184°N 40.81129°E |
Rolling stock
The railway has three battery electric multiple units built by the Railroad Machinery Plants of Riga in Latvia, including two Ep «Tourist» trains and the newly built Ep-563 train, and also the auxiliary mining battery-electric locomotive ARP8 which is used in case of malfunction of EMU's motor car[3]. Two Ep trains were built in 1975 and later both of them were modernized in Moscow in 2005 and 2009.[2] In 2013, due to the wear of these trains, the railway management ordered a new train in Riga, which was built the next year.[4] Since 2014 this it been the only train in use. The first Ep train is based at Anakopea station for doubling the Ep 563 train in case of malfunction. Another Ep train is based at the depot.[3] Each train consists of 6 cars, including 1 control car with motors and power equipment and 5 trailer cars for passengers.[5] Both models run either on a third rail with 380 V DC or batteries with 240 V DC being used for short unelectrified sections at switches without a third rail, and also at passenger stations where the third rail has no voltage for safety reasons.[4]
Gallery
-
Ep train at Entrance station -
Ep train at Anakopea station -
Ep train interior, 2006 -
Ep-563 train at Anakopea station -
Ep-563 train interior, 2014 -
Ep train arriving at Anakopea station
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See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "New Athos Cave Railway". metro-novyafon.narod.ru.
- ^ a b "New Athos Cave Railway" (in Russian). poisk-tura.com. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ a b "New Athos Metro". transphoto.ru. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ a b "Riga built a train for Abkhazia (video)" (in Russian). Telegraf.bb.lv. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
- ^ "Unikalitāte it visā jeb elektrovilciens Turist" (in Latvian). Spoki. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
External links
- "Новый Афон — метрополитен в пещере (New Athos - a subway in a cave)". Retrieved 11 July 2006.