Kazan Metro

Kazan is a historic and cultural centre on the middle Volga. The first plans to have a rapid-transit system were proposed back in the days of the Russian Empire, but after the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, little was left for the design. Nevertheless, in the 1930s, Kazan, being the capital of the Tatar ASSR—one of the most visible autonomous republics and rapidly growing as an industrial centre—prompted some to propose a rapid transit system for the future, particularly after the successful construction of Moscow Metro in 1935.

However, World War II ended such attempts, and in the post-war USSR, only the largest capitals of Union republics could afford a Metro system. Nevertheless, in 1979 the Kazan city's population passed the one million mark: a Soviet requirement for a Metro to be allowed. 1983 was the year when the Supreme Soviet of the Tatar ASSR authorised planning a metro system. The original design was to prove the final one, as the City of Kazan effectively followed a typical Soviet model with a historical centre on the inflow of the Kazanka River into the Volga, and the various industrial and "bedroom" districts (housing complexes) on the edges. The first line would follow a north–south axis beginning in the Transit Railway Station in the north, passing through the post-war Stalinist buildings and then down south of the Kazanka, next to the Kazan Kremlin and through the historical centre to the microdistrict of Gorki.

The first geological survey began in 1984, and by 1989 the construction of the first stage was drawn up and submitted for final authorisation to begin construction. It was not to be. In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up and the economic, as well as political turmoil that rocked Tatarstan and Russia, caused the Kazan Metro project to be axed.

Bilingual signs on the doors of train "Do not lean on door"

Luckily for Kazan, throughout the 1990s, the status of it being the most visible autonomous capital reinforced its position; enough for the Federal government to issue a review of the project in 1995 and authorising the construction. The most prominent deadline was the city's millennium anniversary in 2005. After securing financing and training, the first stone was laid on 27 August 1997.

The first stage of six stations features deep-level tunnels all built by tunnel boring machines, and the stations are either sub-surface or elevated. Little of the original Soviet station plans remain in the architecture of the stations, with the emphasis being on traditional Tatar and Islamic motifs as part of modern high-tech designs. The first shield arrived in Kazan at the end of 1999 and was launched in May 2000.

Initially, the pace was slow and the financial problems were about to prevent the construction's on-time completion. In a desperate attempt, in late 2003 the Russian Ministry of Transport ordered metro brigades from Samara and Moscow to assist and the first stage was made one station shorter, leaving the difficult path under the Kazanka River to open at a later time. Another contribution was made by the Almaty Metro construction brigade from Kazakhstan. Thus, by the late 2004, a total of eight tunnel boring mechanisms were in operation. Overall, a total of thirteen individual tunnels had to be bored.

Despite a rocky start, Kazan Metro was opened on 27 August 2005 by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, the President of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaymiyev, and the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, as well as the mayor of Kazan and the heads of all existing Russian Metros.

The extension to Prospekt Pobedy opened on 29 December 2008 as the first extension south of Gorki station in the second stage. In 2010 the Metro extended across the Kazanka River, with the opening of the Kozya Sloboda station.[2] The Kazan metro opened a three-station northern extension on 9 May 2013.[3]

A second line, with 12 planned stations in total, has been under construction since 2019.[4][5][lower-alpha 1] The first four stations are expected to be completed by 2027.[6]