Crângaşi metro station
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Crângaşi is a metro station in the Crângaşi neighborhood, northwestern Bucharest.
It was opened to the public in December 1984 as a terminus of the M1 line (since renumbered as M3). The station is unusual in that it has three tracks on the same level, one of which has never been used by passengers (it is sometimes used for temporary storage of trains). The explanation is that Crângaşi was initially designed to also house the "Y point" for the M1 and M4 lines (a point where two lines, that for a number of stations have used the same trackage and stopped in the same stations, diverge on separate routes), in a manner similar to the way Eroilor functioned until 1999 - Line 1 and 2 used for trains entering the common section from different routes while line 3 for trains exiting the different routes). However, by 1986, when construction began on the section between Crângaşi and Gara de Nord, the plans were changed (a common feature for Bucharest's metro), with M4 being built with its own trackage from the terminus at Gara de Nord. Nowadays, the station is a point of transfer to the new light rail line 41, which runs from Ghencea to Piaţa Presei Libere (however, the Light Rail station is completely above the surface, with only plans for it to be brought underground in the future for easier transfer).
The station was built using cut-and-cover techniques at a rather shallow depth, in grey-blue Ruşchiţa marble with red and crimson granite and marble insertions, and features a wide central platform with an additional side platform, mirroring the design used at Eroilor station. As the unused platform is very dimly lit, the station itself is one of the darkest on the system.
