The first projects for the construction of underground transport facilities in St. Petersburg date back to the beginning of the 19th century. So, in 1820, a certain engineer Torgovanov, through the intermediary of the Petersburg mayor M.A. Miloradovich, turned to Alexander I with a project for constructing a tunnel under the Neva. The emperor inscribed on the proposal a resolution: «Issue 200 rubles to Torgovanov from the Cabinet and oblige him to continue to sign projects not to engage in projects, but to practice the trades peculiar to him.» The famous Russian inventor I.P. Kulibin also came up with ideas close to Torgovanov’s project and with similar results.The British engineer Mark Brunnel, one of the main participants in the construction of the London Underground, one of the main participants in the construction of the London Underground, which was opened in 1863, also addressed the Cabinet of Ministers with proposals for the construction of an underground railway in St. Petersburg. However, his proposals for a number of reasons did not find practical implementation.In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, St. Petersburg turned into a fast-growing industrial city. The issues of intracity transportation, both passenger and freight, have become acute. At that time, the railway networks of Finland and Russia were isolated from each other. The transit cargo traffic went through St. Petersburg, where on the left bank of the Neva there were four stations of Russian railways, and on the right bank there were two stations (Finlyandsky and later liquidated Primorsky), which belonged to the Finnish railway network. In 1889, the board of the Baltic Railway put forward a project for the construction of an underground connecting line between the Baltic and Finlyandsky railway stations (it is interesting that the first line of the Petersburg metro passed almost the same route 60 years later). Other proposals were also put forward, the idea of building a subway was gaining more and more popularity.At one time, a very popular proposal was to drain part of the city’s rivers and canals and to run trains in the ready-made excavations thus obtained. This project was actively debated in the City Duma, but, fortunately, did not find enough supporters.After the Bolshevik coup, Moscow became the «proletarian capital» and all projects for the construction of the metro are now considered primarily in relation to it. However, the civil war and the post-war devastation for a long time pushed the questions of the construction of underground railways. The construction of the Moscow metro began only in 1931, the first line was opened in 1935, the second in 1938. After that, the question of building a metro in Leningrad was again considered. |
The first line of the Leningrad Metro
Eradeus
Uprising area indicated
The route is built by high-speed
The tunnel was laid from the Station
I rush like an arrow underground.
Stations flicker — pages
Great deeds of a big country
In the names — feats and faces
And a peaceful life, and War.
From Pushkinskaya to Chernyshevskaya,
Lesnaya, Kirovsky plant,
The composition carries us to the famous point
And time moves forward.
11/12/2020
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