Sokolnicheskaya Line
The
Sokolnicheskaya Line (), formerly
Kirovsko-Frunzenskaya, was the first line of the
Moscow Metro, dating back to
1935. The line was opened to connect the northern Sokolniki park with the three main railway stations, the
Kremlin, and the
state library before moving on to the future site of the
Palace of Soviets and onto the
Gorky Park of Culture and Leasure. Since then it has extended into the northeastern districts of Preobrazhenskoye and Bogorodskoye and more significantly the southwestern ones of Khamovniki, Lomonosovsky and Troparyovo. Presentely the line compromises 26 kilometres of track with 19 stations and carries a daily load of 1.7 million passengers.
Two depots are assigned to the line, the Severnoe (No.1) and the Cherkizovo (No.13). Starting in
1997 both depots have been upgrading to the new 81-717.5M/714.5M trains (all factory fresh). Cherkizovo currently operates 22 seven-carriage trains of the type. Severonoe's upgrade was slower and presently 28 of its 35 seven-carriage trains are the new models, the rest being the old Ezh, Ezh1 and the Em-508 and Em-509.
Many of the older stations on the line have received renovations to keep them in good condition, such as the replacement of ceramic tile with marble in Krasnoselskaya's vestibule, new lighting in Kropotkinskaya and Okhotniy Ryad. A new exit was also added to Kropotkinskaya in
1998. Vorobyovy Gory was reopened in
2002 after 16 years of repair work made it safe for use again.
Extensions are planned at both ends of the line. In the south, one station, Troparyovo, is planned. Further extensions in the north are hampered by the position of Ulitsa Podbelskogo and Cherkizovskaya, which were built so they could become of a projected second ring line which has been in planning since the
1960s. As a result the Cherkizovskaya's tunnels have provisions for a second perpendicular station, that would allow the line to continue eastwards to the destrict of Golyanovo and meet the
Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line and
Shchyolkovskaya. However, this cannot happen and the project looks as distant today as it did 40 years ago.
