Almaty Metro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Almaty Metro is a rapid transit system currently under construction in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The first branch of the system is currently planned to open in 2009. Once built, the system would become the second metro in Central Asia, after the Tashkent Metro in Uzbekistan.
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[edit] System
Upon completion, the metro system will total 45km in length.
The first section of Line 1 will have a length of 8.56 km and seven stations (four of which will be deep-level stations and three of which will be sub-surface stations). Initially, 20 trains will operate on the line, increasing to 52 once the line is complete. At an average speed of 40 km/h, the total travel time from end to end will be 12 minutes. The construction cost is estimated at 101 billion tenge ($1 billion).
After the opening of the first section, construction will commence on the rest of Line 1 as well as on Line 2, which will be a surface line. Following completion of both lines, there is a third line currently in planning.
[edit] Construction
Construction on the system commenced in 1988 when Kazakhstan was still part of the Soviet Union. However, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, funds from Moscow dried up and the new Kazakh government was unable to continue construction. Efforts to preserve the already-completed work were made, but the high cost led to the accumulation of large debts to construction workers.
In 2003, the government of Kazakhstan laid out a new development initiative which included government funds for continued construction on the metro. By 2005, the construction program, now under the control of President Nursultan Nazarbayev received commitments for 72 million tenge from 2006-2008.
[edit] References
- American Chamber of Commerce in Kazakhstan, Press Release on Construction]
- Detailed article on Construction, Expert Online, Стройка двух веков, Alia Shalabaeva, 11/7/05 (Russian)
[edit] External links
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