Soviet transit

An unexpected delight for me, I love Soviet metro systems they are such amazing places ( ok some are proper shit holes if I am being honest), but in the main, they are far better than any museum. I only got a short ride back to the hotel. It takes over 5 hours to complete all of the four lines and 50 stations, spread across 44 miles in total distance. If only......

The Tashkent metro system, opened in 1977 and was the first underground rail system in Central Asia. A city in the USSR had to have a population of 1,000,000 and above to qualify for such a system.

It was the 7th out of 13 such transit systems to be constructed in the former USSR before its break up in 1991. Moscow was then first, Yekaterinburg the last.

Open every day from 5 am until midnight, it is a very inexpensive means of travel, a little blue token bought at any station costs about the equivalent of 10p, pop it into the accepting slot at the station and ride to your hearts content anywhere across the system. One price, go where you want and walk out when you want. How cool is that?

Each station is designed around a particular theme, often reflected in the station name.

Kosmonavtlar

Opened on the 31st of December 1984 in honour, as the name suggests, of the cosmonauts of the Soviet Union.

The space themed platform walls are clad in tiles diminishing in colour from midnight blue to white, porticos feature some of the pioneers of the Soviet space program, including Valentina Tereshkova and Yuri Gagarin.

The ceiling was built to replicate the Milky Way, which shows glass stars.

Alisher Navoi Station

So that was just a short hop along to the end of my journey, the station, was opened in December 1984 as the western terminus of the inaugural section of the line.

It is named after a very famous Uzbek poet and scholar from the 15th-century. Alisher Navoi is said to be the founder of Uzbek literature a wise scholar in the arts and architecture.

Intricate architecture with stunning blue domes and golden patterns that were designed to resemble the mosques and madrassas built during the Silk Road when Tashkent was a major trading centre along its route.

The images that adorn the walls of the station replicate images from his stories.

The Tashkent Metro System was seen as a strategically important military installation, it had a secondary use as a bomb shelter in the event of nuclear war, and as such even up until 2018 it was illegal to take snaps or videos inside the metro

So a short but sweet journey beneath the feet of the citizens of Tashkent.

In comparison to Macadees, which always scores a full on 10, I would give EVO's a sold 6.5. the extra 1.5 was gained due to it being close to my hotel and I was fucking starving.