Metro (underground subway)
in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Until recently the hidden depths of the metro (underground, tube) were sign posted in Russian only. Although still very limited, some English can now be found in this underworld.
The metro operates on 5 colour coded lines Red, Blue, Green, Orange and the on going Purple line - 7 interchanges allow you to access all of its 59 stations (a few are still being constructed).
Entrance is 25 roubles, and once in, it’s possible to travel around the whole system. Special tokens or multi-entry metro cards must be purchased from kiosks or automated machines found in the entrance of every metro station. Either is required to allow passage through the turnstiles. Depending upon the station and time, lines (queues) for the kiosks can be lengthy, so it’s worth buying more than you need to avoid another time wasting exercise for the subsequent return trip. Some stations have introduced self-service automatic token machines.
Unfortunately there is no metro station at St. Petersburg's airport - the nearest one, "Zvezdnaya" is on the blue line and is about a 5 minute car ride.
Entrance gates to metro stations have various opening and closing times, but as a guideline they open around 5:45 in the morning and close about 30 minutes past midnight. See below for the official times (to the minute!).
Most metro stations have an ATM (cash-point machine) at the entrance - arguably not the best place to withdraw money, but the convenience is there.
Metro stations and their entrances play host to a whole fraternity of
mini-stalls selling a wide range of material from magazines
and bootlegged CD's to umbrellas and bags.
Metro official opening and closing times (as from 7th March 2009):
Station |
Opening time |
Closing time |
| Line 1 (red) | ||
| Prospect Veteranov -1 | 6.30 |
20.00 |
| Prospect Veteranov -2 | 5.38 |
0.00 |
Leninskiy Prospect-1 |
5.40 |
0.45 |
Leninskiy Prospect -2 |
6.30 |
20.00 |
Avtovo |
5.30 |
0.42 |
Kirovskiy Zavod |
5.33 |
0.40 |
Narvskaya |
5.36 |
0.36 |
Baltiyskaya |
5.38 |
0.33 |
Pushkinskaya |
5.38 |
0.28 |
Vladimirskaya |
5.40 |
0.26 |
Ploschad Vosstaniya -1 |
5.44 |
0.25 |
Ploschad Vosstaniya -2 |
5.44 |
0.25 |
Chernyshevskaya |
5.43 |
0.25 |
Ploschad Lenina -1 |
5.40 |
0.28 |
Ploschad Lenina -2 |
5.40 |
22.00 |
Vyborgskaya |
5.46 |
0.30 |
Lesnaya |
5.44 |
0.33 |
Ploschad Muzhestiva |
5.41 |
0.37 |
Politekhnicheskaya |
5.39 |
0.39 |
Akademicheskaya |
5.35 |
0.40 |
Grazhdanskiy Prospect |
5.30 |
0.44 |
Devyatkino |
5.32 |
0.00 |
| Line 2 (blue) | ||
Kupchino |
5.30 |
0.00 |
Zvyozdnaya |
5.32 |
0.45 |
Moskovskaya -1 |
6.30 |
22.00 |
Moskovskaya -2 |
5.36 |
0.41 |
Park Pobedy |
5.38 |
0.37 |
Elektrosila |
5.41 |
0.35 |
Moskovskiye Vorota |
5.44 |
0.33 |
Fruyzenskaya |
5.46 |
0.30 |
Teknologicheskiy Institut -1 |
7.00 |
20.00 |
Teknologicheskiy Institut -2 |
5.40 |
0.28 |
Sennaya Ploschad |
5.36 |
0.26 |
Nevskiy Prospect -1 |
5.35 |
0.23 |
Nevskiy Prospect -2 |
5.35 |
0.23 |
Gorkovskaya |
closed |
|
Petrogradskaya |
5.36 |
0.28 |
Chyornaya Rechka |
5.50 |
0.32 |
Pionerskaya |
5.47 |
0.35 |
Udelnaya |
5.45 |
0.38 |
Ozerki |
5.42 |
0.41 |
Prospect Prosveschenya |
5.37 |
0.40 |
Parnas |
5.47 |
0.00 |
| Line 3 (green) | ||
Primorskaya |
5.32 |
0.03 |
Vasileostrovskaya |
5.35 |
0.34 |
Gostiny Dvor |
closed |
|
Mayakovskaya |
5.44 |
0.25 |
Ploschad Aleksandra Nevskovo -1 |
5.35 |
0.24 |
Yelizarovskaya |
5.40 |
0.24 |
Lomonosovskaya |
5.36 |
0.27 |
Proletarskaya |
5.40 |
0.30 |
Obukhovo |
5.42 |
0.33 |
Rybatskoye |
5.38 |
0.05 |
| Line 4 (orange) | ||
Ulitsa Dybenko |
5.35 |
0.05 |
Prospect Bolshevikov |
5.37 |
0.18 |
Ladozhskaya |
5.40 |
0.15 |
Novocherkasskaya |
5.40 |
0.14 |
Ploschad Aleksandra Nevskovo -2 |
7.00 |
20.00 |
Ligovskiy Prospect |
5.43 |
0.18 |
Dostoyevskaya |
7.00 |
20.00 |
| Line 5 (purple) | ||
Volkovskaya |
5.35 |
0.05 |
Sadovaya |
5.36 |
0.21 |
Sportivnaya |
5.37 |
0.16 |
Chkalovskaya |
5.38 |
0.19 |
Krestovskiy Ostrov |
5.43 |
0.22 |
Staraya Derevnya |
5.38 |
0.25 |
Komendantskiy Prospect |
5.39 |
0.03 |
Metro etiquette:
- Try to walk on the right hand-side along metro passages.
On escalators, stand on the right, the left is for people who wish to actively move down. If you don't, you will quickly become one of those actively moving people!
- When a train arrives wait to the side of the doors to let passengers disembark before proceeding.
- If seated and see an elderly passenger or mother with children in the immediate vicinity offer them your seat.
- If the train is full with no possible space, simply barge into the crowd and create some - you'll see!
Caution:Watch all your belongings - this is a pickpockets' playground.
Note:Photography in the metro system is not allowed, however, if you try and are caught it's just a verbal warning. Smile and walk away!
