Arsenalna ( uk, Арсена́льна, translit=Arsenál’na, , ) is a station on
Kyiv Metro
The Kyiv Metro ( uk, Ки́ївський метрополіте́н, Kyivskyi metropoliten, ) is a rapid transit system in Kyiv that is owned by the Kyiv City Council and operated by the city-owned company Kyivsky Metropoliten''.'' It was initi ...
’s
Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska Line. The station was opened along with the first stage and is currently the deepest station in the world at . This is attributed to Kyiv’s geography, where the high bank of the
Dnieper River
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The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and B ...
rises above the rest of the city. Also unusual is the station’s design, which lacks a central concourse and is thus similar in layout to stations on the
London Underground
The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...
.
Since 1986, the station has the status of "architectural monument of local significance", protection number 187.
Station
Although Arsenalna (architects G. Granatkin, S. Krushynsky, N. Shchukina) appears as a
pylon trivault, the “Pylons”, along with their portals, are all purely cosmetic decorations. Pink marble walls with bronze grills (that feature metallic artwork on Soviet themes, Soviet stars are due to be removed due to
2015 decommunization laws) is all that is present in the portal. Instead, the station has a small lobby connected directly to the escalator tunnel.
The station was opened along with the first stage
[Kyiv Metro Subway celebrates 58th anniversary on Nov 6](_blank)
UNIAN
The UNIAN or Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News ( uk, Українське Незалежне Інформаційне Агентство Новин, УНІАН, translit=Ukrayins'ke Nezalezhne Informatsiyne Ahentstvo Novyn) is a ...
(6 November 2018) and is currently the deepest station in the world at . The two-step escalator of Arsenalna station is the deepest descent in Kyiv - 55.8 + 46.6 m. It is the oldest in the Kyiv metro. The ride on the escalators itself is one of the longest, totaling up to five minutes.
There are reasons for the layout of the stations, as the cosmetic pylons were planned to be real. The main one comes from the tough soils of the location and the problems with hydroisolation, which forced the builders to conserve the design. Similar problems happened on the first stage in Moscow, however later the stations
Lubyanka and
Chistye Prudy were completed. In Kyiv, this never was to happen. Originally built as an interim on a long track before the line crossed the Dnieper and continued into the left bank residential districts, and with the
Kyiv Arsenal Factory
Arsenal Special Device Production State Enterprise ( uk, Казенне підприємство спеціального приладобудування «Арсенал», translit=Kazenne pidpryiemstvo spetsialnoho pryladobuduvannya Arsenal ...
, for which the station was named, being the only human source of passengers, it was never to have large passenger traffic to justify a complex and costly reconstruction. Nor was the station ever planned to be a transfer point (unlike the Moscow stations, which ultimately was the reason for them to be rebuilt). However, as the historic Arsenal Factory is now home to the
Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum, the station could be reconstructed to accommodate visitors to the Museum.
Decoratively, apart from the spoken portals, the station is monochromatic in its appearance. The plastered vault ceilings, ceramic tiled walls and the marbled “pylons” all are of white colour. A large sculptural artwork depicting revolutionary events that took place in the Arsenal factory in 1918 graced the wall of the main lobby hall until it was removed in the early 1990s.
The station's large surface vestibule is situated on the square leading onto Ivana Mazepy, Dmytro Godzenko, and Mykhailo Hrushevsky streets. Behind the station is a service bay that is used for nighttime stands and minor repairs to the railcar park.
The station went into reconstruction in 2020 and was opened partly in 2021. The complete reconstruction and restoration of nearby historical buildings were finished in August 2021 and the station was opened on 2 September 2021.
During the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
, the station was used as a bomb shelter.
Opening hours
The first train departing to:
st. Lisova - 06:01 am
st. "Akademmistechko" - 05:48 am
Directions for the last train:
st. "Lisova" - 12:30 am
st. "Akademmistechko" - 12:18 am
Train departure schedule at the evening hours (after 10:00 pm.):
St. "Lisova" - 22:57, 11:09 pm, 11:21 pm, 11:32 pm, 11:44 pm, 11:55 pm, 12:07am, 12:18 am, 12:30 am
St. "Akademmistechko" - 10:25 pm, 10:37 pm, 10:49 pm, 10:59 pm, 10:10 pm, 11:20 pm, 11:30 pm, 11:40 pm, 11:52 pm, 12:05 am, 12:18 am
References
External links
Kyivsky Metropoliten– Station description and Photographs
– Photographs
{{Kyiv Metro
Kyiv Metro stations
Railway stations opened in 1960
1960 establishments in Ukraine