Lyublinskaya Line

Lyublinskaya Line ( _ru. Люблинская линия) is the newest line of the Moscow Metro. First opened in 1995 as a semi-chordial radius it is at present in process of being extended through the centre and northwards. In the future it is expected to be renamed as the Lyblinsko-Dmitrovskaya Line (Люблинско-Дмитровская) once its northern section opens. At present the line has 21.2 kilometres of track and 12 stations.

History

In the early 1980s, the Moscow development plan put forward several ideas about solving the build-up as a result of the radial-ring alignment that has determined the development of the Moscow Metro since the mid-1950s. In the previous programme, the radial lines showed an ever-increasing build-up of passengers, were forced to use the central transfer points and those on the ring severely overcrowding the system.

In attempt to solve this problem, the future Lyblinskaya line, was designed so that some of its transfer points be outside the Koltsevaya Line. What this meant was that as was usually the case, the would begin at the ring, but before extending into the beginning at the Kursky Rail Terminal, as (Perovsky and Zhdanovsky) The ultimate goal of the line was to then bring Metro to the new developing districts of Maryino and Lyublino in the South.

The initial design when bringing the new line to the new districts was to follow the Lyublinskaya Street, not far from the bank of the River Moskva. However after several debates, this was altered and the line would continue westwards until it reached the Volzhsky Boulevard and only then turn southwards towards the districts of Lyublino. Although this left out the possibility of railway transfer with the Kursk direction, it did allow the Metro enter into the heart of the rayon more thoroughly.

The change in plans, combined with the financial crises that beset the Metro construction in 1990s meant that the first stage already opened with delays. In late 1995 the first section finally opened, and a year later it would reach Maryino. Several problems were encountered with the construction, particularly for the Dubrovka station, which was left incomplete due to the location of nearby factories heating up the soil, and thus the underground water was unable to be frozen to allow the consruction of an escalator tunnel. However in the late 1990s' because of the financial crises which paralyzed most of the industries, the metro-builders were able to complete the station.

Despite the delays, the line demonstrated some of the newest methods for metro-building. Deep-level stations were built on a monolithic concrete plate, instead of a conventional tubual base. Also the new Wall-column design was introduced on two of the deep-level stations and a single-deck for the shallow ones. New finishing materials, such as a fibreglass vaults were introduced to offer more reliable hydroisolation.

The development of further extensions, was for many years delayed and paralyzed by the lack of finances, and only in 2005 construction was resumed on the long awaited second stage towards the city centre, with Trubnaya being the first to open in 2007.

Timeline

Transfers

Rolling stock

The line is served by the Pechatniki depot (#15). 81-717/714 (including .5 and .5M modifications) wagons are used since the opening of the line. In 1998-2004 some new 81-720/721 (and .1) "Yauza" trains were received, but now their production is stopped. Some "Yauza" are still working, but all the new rolling stock used on the line is 81-717/714.5M.

Recent events and future plans

At present there are three distinct areas on the development of the line.

Central extension

The second stage opened with Trubnaya in August 2007 and Sretensky Bulvar following December. The second segment is scheduled to open in 2009 (construction was resumed only in early 2007). This will include two stations Dostoyevskaya and Marina Roshcha. The former was planned to be a transfer to the future station Suvorovskaya of the Koltsevaya Line, however with delays in funding, only a provision for a transfer will exist.

Dmitrovsky (northern) radius

Construction on this extension, unlike other sections was never started, and there are still debates on the exact path of the future radius. Nonetheless the most likely one is a four station extension from Marina Roshcha to Likhobory with interim Sheremetyevskaya, Butyrsky Khutor Petrovsko-Razumovskaya, where a provision for a cross-platform transfer with the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line exists. This is planned to be inaugurated by 2013.

Afterwards the line will continue northwards to the housing districts of Beskudnikovo, Degunino and Lianozovo. It is believed that the full radius is to be operational by 2020, and by this time an extension to the Severny district, beyond the MKAD, might be realised, although this might be in the form of light metro.

Lyublinsky (southern) radius

In a separate case, a three station extension from Marino began in 1997, but since 2000 the construction sites of the stations Borisovo, Shipilovskaya, and Zyablikovo have been abandoned. The importance of this is that Zyablikovo will be a transfer to the Krasnogvardeyskaya station of the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. Presently it is believed that construction will resume in 2008, for an opening in 2010.

Footnotes