You can see the mythical Zilant dragon and a flying horse - and start speaking Tatar.
The subway in Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan, is not big, but it is very colorful. The Kazan Metro is one of seven operating in Russia. The other cities with underground transport systems are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Novosibirsk and Ekaterinburg. To date, this is the only subway that opened after the disintegration of the USSR.
The underground transport development plan for Kazan dates back to the late 1980s and the start of construction coincided with the difficult 1990s, when the country was in the grip of an economic crisis. Nevertheless, construction was completed.
The subway was opened in 2005 and the event was timed to coincide with celebrations to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the city of Kazan. As of today, the ‘podzemka’ (‘subway’) consists of a single line almost 17 km long. It has a total of 11 stations.
Every day, it transports about 100,000 passengers. Construction of the second line of the Kazan Metro began in 2020. In the plans, it is to have four stations and will be 5.7 km long with its opening scheduled for 2027.
In many subways in Russia, stations are announced in Russian and English. But, in Kazan, they are also announced in Tatar, which, in the Republic of Tatarstan, has the status of an official (state) language alongside Russian. Announcements in Tatar are made by a female voice, while a male voice announces the stations in Russian and English.
In 2021, you could also have a ride on a themed metro train dedicated to the languages of the peoples of Russia and learn a handful of phrases in Tatar, Mari, Chuvash, Mordovian and Udmurt.
One of the main sights of Kazan is its white-stoned kremlin. And it can be seen not just above ground, but also in the metro. Kremlyovskaya station, located not far from the Kazan Kremlin, is a real underground palace. Its walls recall the kremlin’s masonry, while mini-replicas of the kremlin towers and mosques, as well as the “leaning” Söyembikä Tower, are installed on the platform.
The ceiling of Kremlyovskaya station is decorated with Eastern motifs depicting the mythical dragon Zilant, the emblem of Kazan, which dates back to the period of the Khanate of Kazan (read in more detail about this period here). The dragon also “guards” the entrance to the station - a figure of the creature has been placed next to the letter ‘M’ outside.
As it happens, one of the stations on the second metro line is to be called ‘Zilant’. Under the plans, the design of the station is to recall the scales of a dragon.
Another station under construction, Tulpar, is named after the fabled winged horse of the same name, which features in many Turkic legends.
The fairytale theme can also be seen at Ploshchad Tukaya (Tukay Square) station, named in honor of the Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukay. It is faced with white and green marble and decorated with depictions of the heroes of Tatar folk tales.
The Kazan Metro is the only subway system in Russia where you won’t see clocks at stations indicating when the previous train departed. However, in general, the interval between trains is 5-6 minutes, even during peak hours.
Despite its small size, the Kazan Metro is very modern. Automated systems are employed in the subway, enabling trains to be driven without human intervention. At the same time, there are obligatory train operators on trains to keep an eye on the automated systems. In addition, there are plans in Kazan to start trials of fully driverless trains.
Payment for journeys on the Kazan Metro can be made with a travel or credit card. There are also contactless smart tokens with a chip embedded inside. Such a token is valid for just a single day. The price of such a high-tech token is higher than the regular fare. So, the Kazan Metro management limits the number of tokens that can be acquired by a single person. And, for those who want a token as a souvenir, multi-colored “presentation” tokens without a chip are also available.
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