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With memory about Alexandr Bondarenko
LITERALLY
Note to English reader:
In Russian, an official term for subway is "Metropoliten",
or "Metro" as people usually refer to it.
The following text uses terms "Metro", "Metropoliten" and "Subway"
interchangebly. They all mean the same thing.
"METROPOLITEN" (in French, literally: metropolitaine, belong to capital)
is kind of rapid off-street rail passenger transport,
need in conditions of the large cities
with strong passenger flows, densely placed buildings and sated street traffic...
In USSR the first line of subway is entered in Moscow (in 1935)...
The preparatory works on construction of subway are conducted
in Alma-Ata, Riga, Chelyabinsk, Donetsk, Krasnoyarsk, Rostov-on-Don,
Omsk, Ufa, Kazan... "
(Soviet encyclopaedic dictionary, 1990).
In the METROPOLITEN of a usual, classical kind
the passenger flows reaches 50-60 thousand per hour,
the lines, as a rule, are placed under ground
and comes to a surface or to elevations somewhere only,
the rolling stock has railway dimensions and weights,
the trainsets includes a 4-8 cars,
the tunnels has diameter of 5-6 meters,
in the tunnels and over the surface may be the small inclinations and wide turning radiuses,
the platforms on stations are of 100-160 meters length and 10-16 meters width.
The lines of such metropoliten usually passes along cityform axes
and makes a frame of the urban transport system.
The cost of construction of one kilometer of metropoliten
usually accouts 40-50 mln dollars.
The CITY-IN ELECTROTRAINS (S-bahn, Stadtbahn, Cityrail),
that uses a ground railway net within the limits of cities
and are characterized by above-stated parameters,
it is possible to consider as the ground metropoliten.
In the LIGHT METROPOLITEN
the passenger flows not exceed 15-25 thousand per hour,
the lines, as a rule, are placed on a surface or on elevations
and has small tunnel parts somewhere
(for example, on interchange transfer nodes, in city centre, on transport crosseouts),
the rolling stock has dimensions and weights less that railway ones,
the trainsets includes 2-4 cars,
the tunnels has diameter of 4-5 meters,
in the tunnels and over the surface may be the significant inclinations and small turning radiuses,
the platforms on stations are of 50-90 meters length and 5-8 meters width.
The lines of such metropoliten delivers to the airports
or to the stations of an usual metropoliten and only in small cities
forms the basis of the urban transport system.
The cost of construction of one kilometer of light metropoliten
usually accouts 15-25 ÍÌÎ. dollars.
The light metropoliten, that has underground lines and
more high cost of construction, sometimes named as the MINI-METRO.
the PAST
Authorities of Kazan took in mind a rapid off-street mass transit
at 30-s' years of last century already. According to the non-executed
due to WWII
General Plan for Development of the city of 1941 it was intended to
build the rail branch for an urban electric trains.
The line of such "surface metro"
would connect new railstation, planned on Vosstaniya corner,
with new huge central city's square under the Kremlin and
with main railstation, combined to the river port.
The stops of this line was supposed on the crossings of main city's roads.
The first official mentionings of real Kazan subway date back to 1979 -
when the city's millionth inhabitant was born.
According to the Soviet norms it was permitted to build a subway
only for the cities-"millionaires". Though the city planners proved
the necessity of a subway for Kazan since 1976.
The actual history of Kazan subway begins in 1983-1984.
In these years, the complex transportation scheme for the capital of Tatarstan
(compiled by institute "GIPROkommundortrans") was approved
with a special provision for
the construction of the subway . For the first time in Kazan,
the fences bearing the treasured letter "M" (metro)
have appeared around the sites of the preliminary geological survey.
At the same time, the development of the feasibility report
for the first line of the subway began. The project was conducted
first by Moscow institute "MetroGIPROTrans" and later by the
its branch "Gorkymetroproekt."
The feasibility report was approved by the ministry of railroads
of the USSR in 1987. In 1988, the complex full-scale geological surveys
were carried out, and the development of the blueprint for
the first line was started.
Kazan Main architectural and city-planning Department of the Mayory
together with the newspaper "The Evening Kazan" have held among habitants a
competition
for best names of stations for the first line of the Kazan subway.
However in 1989 the Council of Ministers of the USSR
issued a confidential Decree ordering the termination of financing
of design and construction of subways in all cities of the Soviet Union.
Presumably, it was related to the financial difficulties
of the times of the perishing socialism.
But Kazan, as is known, always goes its own way:
the work on the project slowed down, but did not stop completely.
Money for the financing of the project was found somehow -
thanks to the city budget.
the PEOPLE
Alexandr Bondarenko, the Chairman of Executive committee
of the Kazan city's Council at 1965-1985, was the key figure
in the early history of the Kazan subway.
Much due to this man we might sometime be able use the Kazan subway.
- We could not stop under any circumstances, - Bondarenko
used to say. - Certainly, we could give up and forget, like other cities did.
But we understood that sooner or later the city would definitely be
in need of a subway. Therefore, the work on the project was never stopped.
You see, it is much harder and more expensive to start from scratch,
rather than continue what has been developing already.
The time showed that we were right. However not everyone took our idea
with enthusiasm and seriously. There were "economizing" managers,
conservative narrow-minders, and simply naive people.
A woman once approached me and said: "Alexander Ivanovich, drop this subway
idea. You're going to dig holes in the ground, and the fountains
of oil will fill all of Kazan." We didn't drop.
The current
Mayor Kamil Iskhakov , a man known to be able to "get things done",
has continued this essential project. He spent much of his efforts
getting the support for the project from both regional and Moscow authorities.
RUMOURS
The main rumour that's been going around the city from the very
beginning of the project, is that of impossibility of subway
construction in Kazan due to swamped ground, underground caves and so on.
Nonsense, - said vice-chief of Main architectural and city-planning
Department of the Mayory Ivan Pluzhnikov, known as the "walking encyclopedia"
of Kazan subway. - Certainly, our city is located in less than perfect place,
but it's no more difficult to build a subway here than, for example,
in Nizhni Novgorod or St.-Petersburg. Each city has its "easy" sites
and the more difficult ones. One thing is trying to build
under the Tukay square, where even construction of a regular house
is problematic, but it's a different story at the Hights area,
where condition are much better. I officially declare that no natural
"counter-indications" to the construction of the Kazan subway exist.
LATEST HISTORY
The second time the subway project got almost killed was in 1995.
The heads of city, through their connections, found out that the
Government of Russia had determined a list of 9 cities,
which could expect a subway in the foreseeable future.
Kazan was not on this list. Vice-Premier of the Government of Tatarstan
Nicolay Denisov and Vice-Mayor of Kazan Oleg Antosenko
have spent a week in Moscow negotiating the issue.
Eventually, they succeeded in making Kazan the 10th city on the list.
The work on designing of the subway was revived with full force,
and the technical project of the initial segment was approved
in December, 1996.
In 1996 during the pre-election visit of the President
of Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin to the capital of Tatarstan,
the chiefs of the Republic decided to ask for centralized financing
of the project. As is known, Yeltsin has agreed and accepted the invitation
to travel by first section of the subway.
However, it so happened that a different President of
Russian Federation would be destined to be among the "openers"
of the Kazan subway. During his voyage to Kazan in March 2000.
as a Presidential Candidate, Putin was officially accepted
into the proud ranks of "metrostroiteli"(subwaybuilders),
after he promised to secure financing of the project.
Also prior to that, the far-seeing Tatarstan authorities offered
Putin to be the chairman of state committee for preparation
of Millenium celebration of the city of Kazan in 2005.
The "Construction of the Century" was started at
August 27, 1997
with a grand public ceremony, which featured baloons, music concert,
a huge pie, and speaches by the President Shaymiyev and Mayor Iskhakov.
Even a small granite-marble monument containing a capsule
with a message to the future riders of the subway was built
on the central Tukay square.
In must be noted, the business have been undertaken thoroughly.
On December 14, 1996 the Government of Tatarstan approved
the Program
of construction of the subway in Kazan for 1997-2023 years.
Starting in 1997, the construction of the Kazan subway
have been included in the annual federal and republican budgets.
The
Municipal enterprise "KazMetroStroy" ("KazSubwayConstruct"), headed
by experienced BAM-tunnelbuilder Marat Rakhimov, is organized in 1997.
From the Mayory the construction is overseen by the
Directorate of construction of underground structures for transport (former
Department of construction of subway),
, and also by the
Vice-Mayor on construction Oleg Antosenko.
Using the non-utilized facilities of the Gorbunov airplant as a base,
a plant for production of constructive elements for subway
was created.
For this purpose, the unique french equipment for manufacturing
of tunnel tubings was aquired.
A modern electronic-equipped, 600-ton-weight, 75-meter-long, high-speed
tunnel-boring system (TBM) named "Syuyumbike"("Love abundant girl")
was purchased for $ 13 mln from Lovat company in Canada.
It had arrived in December, 1999, and
started its underground work in May, 2000.
The second Lovat-builded tunnel-boring system
named "Katyusha"
was taken by leasing in Moscow in February, 2004
and was launched in March, 2004.
The third Lovat-builded tunnel-boring system
named "Olga"
was taken by leasing in Moscow in July, 2004
and was launched in August, 2004.
The third Lovat-builded tunnel-boring system
named "Polina"
was taken by leasing in Moscow in July, 2004
and was launched in August, 2004.
One more tunnel-boring system
named "Altynchach"("Gold hair girl")
was purchased for 8 mln euro from france NFM company of german Wirth concern,
arrived in May, 2004
and was launched in June, 2004.
Two more USSR-builded tunnel-boring shields
KT-5,6
and ShchNE-2M
were taken by leasing in Samara in 2002 and 2003
and one more ShchN-12
was taken by leasing in Almaty in 2004.
Lately, for 2-nd queue of 1-st line, the 3-rd tunnel-boring system
named "Aisylu"("Moon beauty")
was purchased more to Gorky (Hights) area.
The SECOND - "VOKZALNAYA" ("STATION's") LINE ,
will begin in Azino residental area, pass through the territory of
the old airport "Kazan-2", Ershov and Karl Marx streets,
Tukay square, Tatarstan street, and terminate at the Main Railroad Station.
The construction length of the second line is 12.6 kilometers.
According to the former, lavish General Plan for Development of the city,
this line was supposed to be extended along the Volga River
to the new residential areas that close to railroads and that
would taked-away from river.
Now, it seems that extension of the line will be limited to the area of streets
Klara Tsetkin, Khalturin and Frunze.
The THIRD - "PRIVOLZHSKO-SAVINOVSKAYA"
("VOLGA-SAVINOV") LINE will connect
Southern (Privolzhsky District) and of North-Western (Moscow District)
industrial zones. It will run from Boriskovo settlement through
Tekhnicheskaya and Esperanto streets, Central Park, tonnel under river,
Amirkhan and Yamashev avenues, Victory Park,
Dekabristov and Shamil Usmanov streets toward to the Vosstaniya corner.
The construction length of the third line is 14.2 kilometers.
Further this line, through the Levchenko settlement and
the helicopter-manufacturing plant, will reach Zhilploshchadka area
and "Orgsynthesis" plant.
The TRANSFER STATIONS will be located at Tukay square,
in Cloth settlement, at the crossing of Karl Marx and Gorky streets,
and at Dekabristov street near the Moscow Market.
The system was designed so that it would be possible to cross the city
with maximum of one transfer.
Among the stations and tracks of Kazan subway
the SURFACE and ELEVATED ones will be also.
On the Central Line these would be "Ametiyevo".
On the Station's Line there are "Air Terminal"-"Azino-2"
and, in the future, section beyong the Main Rail Station
toward to Admiralty settlement.
On the Volga-Savinov Line there are parts
"Taktash"-"Boriskovo", "Uprising"-"Chemical".
Furthermore, since it is relatively cheaper and faster
to build surface track and stations, to fully resolve transportation problems
of the city, surface-placed
the Circle Line
and the extentions of radial lines
to city outskirts, as well as to the Kazan International airport,
could be constructed at the same time as the underground network.
All the TRAIN CARS in the subway
are uses the asynchronic engines on A.C. and full auto-pilot system.
The 4-cars trains
81-55x.3 "Kazan" at first
and
81-55x.4 "Kazan-II" as next
produced by joint venture of
Yegorov "WagonMash" plant in St.-Petersburg of "Dedal-Wagony" holding and
"Shkoda" holding in Czech republic
The planned order of 3-cars (6-sections) trains
81-74x.1 "Rusich" by
"MetroWagonMash" plant in Mytishchi of "Dedal-Wagony" holding?
as second kind of trains, was cancelled.
The DEPOT
for rolling stocks
on Tankodrom area, opposite to the Kazan Fair (former VDNKh)
is being constructed by "Kaztransstroy" company
according to the architectural design of institute "Kazgrazdanproekt"
and the technical executive project of institute "Minskmetroproekt".
Earlier the place for the depot was considered as an option
(and was even accepted at some point) in Ametiyevo settlement.
In future, after the completion of bulding of second and third lines,
the separate depots for these lines will be constructed
in areas of Azino and Orgsynthesis accordingly.
The 9-story ENGINEERING BUILDING
designed by institute "Kazgrazdanproekt" also
and now under construction near the station "Cloth settlement".
CONSTRUCTION
The stations and tunnels of the Kazan subway will be shallow,
that is they will be placed 8-12 meters below the surface
(under streets, lowlands and on sites with strong soil)
and up to 20-31 meters below surface (under the river, heights,
and on sites where soil is friable, viscous or with pockets of emptiness).
The majority of stations will be constructed by using an open method.
That is, roughly speaking, a huge hole is dug out,
all sides are reinforced, and it is covered by the ground.
Most of the tunnels (under the historical part of city
and also in areas with densely placed buildings or difficult geology)
will be constructed by using a closed method.
On the first built section
tunnel-boring systems lays the tonnels in follow sequence:
Lovat-"Syuyumbike" - 2 tonnels "Cloth settlement"-"Tukay sq",
1 tonnel "Tukay sq"-"Kremlin", 1 tonnel "Cloth settlement"-"Ametiyevo";
Lovat-"Katyusha" - 2nd tonnel "Cloth settlement"-"Ametiyevo";
Wirth-NFM-"Altynchach" - 2nd tonnel "Kremlin"-"Tukay sq";
Lovat-"Polina" - 2nd tonnel "Ametiyevo"-"Hights";
ShchN-12 - 1st part of 1st tonnel "Ametiyevo"-"Hights",
Lovat-"Olga" - 2nd part of 1st tonnel "Ametiyevo"-"Hights"
and 1st part of 2st tonnel "Ametiyevo"-"Hights";
Lovat-"Polina" - 2nd part of 2st tonnel "Ametiyevo"-"Hights";
KT-5,6 and ShchNE-2M - branches "Ametiyevo"-depot.
Certainly, for the stations and tunnels, built using by an open method,
it is necessary to tear down a some buildings (that, by the way,
is well coordinated with another historical program of city
known as reconstruction of areas with shabby housing)
and to make a temporary detours of current routes of ground
transportation and communications. However, the designers assure,
that they have tried to make so, that the construction has not mentioned
the basic traffics.
The construction was started with assistance of
an experienced colleagues from "MosMetroStroy" and "GorkyMetroStroy".
Then metrobuilders from Moscow, Samara, Almaty etc were involved also.
Although, the core of "KazMetroStroy" was formed from
the high quality tunnel- and subway-builders,
gathered from BAM, Ukraine, Tashkent and from numerous other
underground constructions of former USSR.
TIMING
In cities of the prosperous West and of the boom-developing Far East
it takes 5 years to built up 15-20 kilometers of the subway.
In spite of the rapid "Syuyumbike", having the unprecedented for local subway
constructions speed of boring (up to 250-300 meters per month),
most likely, it will not be possible for us
to keep such rates due to organizational and financial reasons.
On domestic experience, it took at least 8 years
from the first pile to the first trains on a first section
of several kilometers even in best ages of scale constructions.
In Kazan by the last plans
the first section from the Kremlin prior to the beginning of Hights
is ready in 2005 - just in time for the city's Millenium celebration.
At the time of aproval of
the Program of construction of the subway in 1996
it was planned to construct
a much lengthier initial section (11 kilometers: "The Youth centre" - "Karbyshev")
by 2004.
But according to
the documentation of 1987 of age of the socialism,
Kazan's citizens could have use the subway starting in 1999.
After building of initial section,
1-2 stations will be added every 2 year.
The first - Central Line
in its entirety will be completed by 2011-2013.
Taking into account, that each year it is really possible
to build only 1 - 1.5 kilometers of subway, it is simple to conclude,
that all 3 lines with all stations
will not be ready until 30-s' years of XXI century.
MONEY
According to
the Program of construction of the subway in Kazan
for 1997-2023, more than 550 mln roubles should be invested
into construction of the initial section and more than 2140 mln roubles
into construction of all 3 lines. That's in 1991 prices.
But in the present prices it is more than 14.3 and 55.6 bln roubles,
or US $ 440 and $ 1.720 mln. Also it is equalent to respectivly,
3 and 12 annual budgets of Kazan. So the subway for us
is not just a way of transportation, but also a luxury
(this refers to the saying that
"automobile is not a luxury, but a way of trasportation").
The thinking is that: the funding of the construction
will come from both, the whimsical-unpredictable "river" of target financing,
as well as, from consistant "streams" of tax penalties.
Initially, according the former program-like Order
of Government of Russian Federation No.1093-r from 12.07.96
for construction of subway the target financing was determined
to be fifty-fifty (50 % each) from Governments of Russia and Tatarstan.
However, at the end of 2000 the federal centre
"has presented" to all subway constructing cities
a large "barrel... of tar" - the new
program-like Order
of Government of Russian Federation No.1433-r from 12.10.00.
According to it, the local sources must now provide 80 % of funding,
and federal treasury will contribute only 20 %.
And this is considering that the ratio of budget revenue contributions
"region - centre" is almost 30 % : 70 % ,
and deduction into the regions-saving Road Fund is reduced by 5 times!
In this statut "a spoon of honey in a barrel of tar" is such fact that
the reduced federal grants
given out completely and in real money,
i.e. not like "virtual" contributions earlier.
Due to federal assistance in preparations for the city's millenium
last time funding order was returned to 50 % : 50 % .
NEIGHBOURS
Today there is a boom of construction of subways
in the world.
Subways are built
in car-saturated agglomerations of North America,
in historically densely built (even small) towns of Europe,
in modernizing favellas of Latin America,
in chaotic town-like settlements in India,
in reconstructing ancient Chinese cities,
in exploding megapolises of the Asian "dragon"-countries,
in rapidly urbanizing Turkey,
in capitals of fundamentalist Middle East,
and even in post-colonial Africa.
In Russia and countries of the former USSR for a long time
subways have existed in:
Moscow (since 1935), St.Petersburg (since 1955), Kyiiv (since 1960),
Tbilisi (since 1966), Baky (since 1967), Kharkiv (since 1975),
Toshkent (since 1977), Yerevan (since 1981), Mensk (since 1984).
Several cities were also lucky enough time to construct
the first lines of the subways at the "fall" of socialism:
Nizhni Novgorod (since 1985), Novosibirsk (since 1986),
Samara (since 1987), Ekaterinburg (since 1991), Dnipropetrovsk (since 1995).
Similar situation as in Kazan, i.e. the process
of construction the first sections of the subway, now exist in:
Omsk (4 stations in 2008),
Chelyabinsk (3 stations in 2010),
Krasnoyarsk (3 stations in 2010),
Almaty (7 stations in 2008),
Donetsk (4 stations in 2010).
In Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Odesa the first lines of the subways
were designed, but construction never started at all.
In time of "perestroyka" of the 80-s also Saratov, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk,
Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Zaporizhia and Lviv
have begun to dream (and to make the feasibility studies) about subways.
Volgograd and Kriviy Rih resorted to creation so-called metrotram
(also known as light-rail), when 2-3-car rapid tram
stops at underground stations in the city's centre,
but cames to the surface on city's outskirts.
Another special case is secret military city, manufacturer
of weapon-grade plutonium and satellites, Zheleznogorsk (former Krasnoyarsk-26).
The 10-kilometer line of subway (5 kilometers of that are in tunnel)
continues there from city's centre to the mining-chemical plant.
The standard electric trains operate on the line there.
In CIS there is also the small-size but real subway
in the resort of New Athos in Abkhazia.
The mini-metrotrain goes between 3 stations
to bring of a tourists into remarkable caves in Apsar mountain.
But Riga has lost it's chance to be a one more metrocity.
Having refused from, as it seemed, thrusted by USSR
"troyan horse"-like shallow-depthed subway,
dangerous to historical buildings of city's centre, now Riga
order a new project of surface subway (S-bahn) in Germany.
The Association
of the customers on construction of subways of CIS "Investstroymetro" (former "Assodstroymetro"), the
Tunnelling
association of Russia and
the Housekeeping association of subways of Russia and CIS "Metro"
now founded for mutual help. The problems (mainly, in money) is experienced by all.
But construction of subway "to freeze", i.e. to preserve, is
more expensively than to continue. Therefore, almost all of
subway constructing cities
proceed their "Constructions of Century"
by "last forces" (financial).
THOUGHTS
- From the 70-s' and until present times,
I have been sure in necessity of subway for Kazan, -
said Alexandr Bondarenko. -
Only subway is capable to solve our chronic transportation problem.
But in order to catch the success, this business should be undertaken
by fanatics, ready to run, to achieve, to work at day and night...
The construction of the subway is large fight.
And this fight we should win...
Article of Dmitry Mikhailin for the newspaper "The Kazan Times", 07.96
+ actual additions for present days
+ personal corrections by
generous Collin Maslov
|
ALL APPROVED LINES
1-ST PROJECT MAP of 1988 -
Map on site
Map on site
Map by K-LEX
Map on site
Map of 2008
Map of 2005
Map on site
Video (site MetroWorld)
Aproval of the Program of construction of subway
