Budynok Rad (; '' uk, Будинок Рад'') is a station on the
Kryvyi Rih Metro
The Kryvyi Rih Metrotram or the Kryvyi Rih Metro ''( uk, Криворізьке метро)'' is a partially underground rapid transit metro system that serves the city of Kryvyi Rih, the seventh-largest city in Ukraine.
Despite its designation ...
. It opened on 23 February 1988 as part of the first segment of the second stage.
The station sits right in the center of the city next to the city council building. When the station was opened, there were delays with the construction of two other stations, so to justify the system, a temporary shuttle service was organized with two three-car trams ferrying passengers between the city center and the reversal ring on the
Mudryona station. On 2 May 1989, after the completion of the remaining two stations on the second stage, standard transit was possible and the shuttle service was discontinued.
The station also lacks an external vestibule; instead, two vestibules are located underground on both ends of the platform. One of the biggest problems that arose with the construction of a Metro-type station was that
unidirectional trams, common in the Soviet Union, only have doors on the right side, meaning that the direction had to alternate prior to arriving at the station with an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
(given the right-hand rail operation used in the USSR). As a result, the tracks cross before reaching the station and continue on the same side until Prospekt Metalurhiv where they cross back to the standard right-hand arrangement
The station is a typical single vault (
Khariv design). The two stations are also most extravagant, which is another trademark of ex-Soviet Metro systems. Whereas other stations make use of the architecture of the surface structure and arrange the interior to be aesthetic, this station is exactly the opposite. Red marble is used for the walls and floor; the ceiling of the vault consists of a hexagonal honeycomb arrangement. Three mosaics with a Soviet theme are present on both walls. Lighting comes from a series of light bulbs installed in the center of each hexagon on the apexal rows of the vault. However, for financial reasons, it is rare that they are all turned on at once.
External links
Mir Metro- Description and photos
Google maps- Satellite shot.
{{Kryvyi Rih Metrotram
Kryvyi Rih Metrotram stations