Kitay-Gorod (Metro)

Kitay-Gorod ( _ru. Китай-город), is a cross-platform transfer point of the Moscow Metro serving both the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line and the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line. Originally called Ploshchad Nogina, after the square that once carried the name of Viktor Nogin. The station although not in the geographical centre of Moscow, but certainly in one of the cultural and historic ones (see Kitai-gorod).

Consisting of two separate, parallel station halls united via a transfer corridor and two combined vestibules, it was built in an era where decorative architecture once again began to emerge and the combined effort of the architects Strelkov and Moloshenok as well as decorative authors Rusin, Lapina and Bodniek, whose efforts, amongst other places, is seen on the metallic artworks on the walls of both halls.

The western hall, nicknamed "Kristall" (Crystal) is decorated with two rows of angular pylons faced with light gray marble. Large metal cornicles running along the base of the ceiling hide the illumination lamps. The walls are faced with bright marble and the floor with gray granite. The eastern hall, nicknamed "Garmoshka" (Accordion), because of its pylons, faced with yellowish marble, which look like a stretched accordion parallel to the length of the hall. The walls are faced with a grayish marble and the floor with bright granite. Heritage of the original station's name, Ploshchad Nogina, can still be found midway in the transfer passage, where a bust of Victor Nogin (sculptor Shlykov) still stands.

Originally the station was to open along the intersection of the two lines when their connecting points in the centre would link the Zhdanovskiy and Krasnopresnenskiy radii and the Kaluzhskiy and Rizhskiy radii in mid 1970s. However the overcrowding of the ring line due to passengers travelling between the two lines it was decided to accelerate works on this transfer point prematurely.

The first trains arrived from both Kaluzhskaya and Zhdanovskaya Lines on December 30, 1970. Because Ploshad Nogina was a terminus for both lines, trains would terminate at the eastern hall and then go off into the tunnels, where piston junctions were installed for both lines, and then come back on the western hall. For the transfer purposes, it was possible for passengers not to depart the trains when they crossed the platform on the eastern hall.

On December 31, 1971, the Kaluzhskaya Line linked up with the Rizhskaya to form the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line. Trains from that line began operating in normal thoroughfare, though it was still possible to go on the Zdanovskaya Line by boarding on the eastern platform. The transfer point entered its full operational regime only in late 1975 when on the 17 December, Zdanovskaya and Krasnopresnenskaya Lines connected to form the Zhdanovsko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line.

The full operation continues today with nortbound trains heading towards Medvedkovo and Planernaya come via the eastern platform and southbound trains heading towards Bittsevsky Park and Vykhino coming via the western one. For passengers wishing to travel in the opposite direction, is required to use a transfer corridor linking the two platforms.

Two underground vestibules allow transfer to the surface. The southern vestibule (architects Ivan Taranov and Petukhova) is located under Slavyanskaya Square and is interlinked with multiple subways. Both escalator tunnels follow directly to the vestibule. The northern one (architects Lile, Litvinov and Markovskiy) is located under the Staraya Square with subway linkages to the Maroseika street along with others. The passengers must first travel up a flight of stairs from the two halls before turning left and travelling for a while and then going up on a combined escalator. This arrangement was purpose built for a transfer to the future Maroseika station of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line, whose tunnels pass north of the Kitay Gorod stations.

Presentely the transfer point is very busy 103880 people board the station via the vestibules alone, and another 300800 use it as a transfer between the two lines.

External links

* [http://www.metro.ru/stations/kaluzhsko-rizhskaya/kitay-gorod/ metro.ru]
* [http://www.mymetro.ru/cgi-bin/list.pl?lng=ru&a=1&b=6&c=14 mymetro.ru]
* [http://news.metro.ru/f611.html Yuri Gridchin's site]
* [http://www.kartametro.info/?hl=EN&ms=KitayGorod&z=17&t=k KartaMetro.info] — Station location and exits on Moscow map (English/Russian)