For one reason or another, the construction of metro stations halts, projects get frozen, and passengers grow bored on the trains during the long ride through the tunnels. At present, there are three “ghost stations” on the Green subway line: “Lvivs’ka brama”, “Telychka” and “Gertsena”.
Credits: Smnamos
Lvivska Brama Ghost Station
“Lvivs’ka brama” sits between the Golden Gates and Lukyanivs’ka stations, and is geographically located beneath Lvivs’ka Square. Construction of the station began in 1991, but five years later the project was halted because of a lack of funds and the impossibility of reconstructing Lvivs’ka Square, where the station’s exit was to be built. The government now promises to finish construction as soon as possible – another working station would greatly ease the transport junction. The underground tunnel is almost complete, and the main challenge that remains is building the escalators and the above-ground part of the station.
Gertsena Unfinished Station
The Gertsena subway station was meant to be built between the Lukyanivs’ka and Dorogozhychi stations, but the plans never got past the drawing board. The station was named in honor of the Russian writer Alexander Gertsen, since its exit was to be located near the street of the same name. The vast majority of the passengers who would eventually have used the station were workers from the Kyiv motorcycle factory. In the 1990s, however, when construction of the “Gertsen” station began, the factory’s activity slowed down and it soon ceased to exist. The need for another station therefore fell away for reasons of economy. There was another proposed name for the station – “Zagorevskaya”, after Zagorevshchyna, the region where it was to be built. There are hopes that construction of the station will be resumed, as a new residential complex is due to appear nearby.
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Almost the same story as with “Gertsena” befell the “Telychka” station – it became unprofitable to open a station between “Vydubychi” and “Slavutich”, and the project, which began in the early 1990s, was suspended within two years. The government announced that it had no plans to resume the construction. The station took its name from the area where it was to be located – Nyzhnia Telychka. There was also another possible name – “Naddnipryanska”. On some maps inside the subway trains, the “Lvivska brama” and “Telycka” stations are marked with a dashed line – it is as if they exist and, at the same time, they do not. How long it will take for them to start operating is unknown. For now, the question of extending the existing subway lines and building new ones is a more pressing one.
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