Volgograd tram, which also travels underground

Residents of large cities who do not have personal transport are united by a common problem - how to get to their destination as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Often, citizens spend unreasonably much time on the road, because they have to overcome long distances. You can get stuck in a traffic jam for a long time, and traffic lights do not allow you to move faster.


If there is a subway in a metropolis, this changes things significantly. But in communities with less than a million people, this convenient form of public transport is not available. Therefore, municipal authorities are often faced with the task of providing a fundamentally new way of moving people in urban areas.


Volgograd, the city where one of the best high-speed tram lines has been built, did an excellent job with this. The designers managed to construct a symbiosis of the metro and the city passenger car, which could significantly reduce the transport problem. The new type of transport immediately fell in love with Volgograd residents and guests of the city, because it can travel twice as fast and wait less time at stops. On the ground sections of the route, the tram moves apart from other participants in the movement, and underground no one interferes with it at all.



In November 1984, the first stage went into operation. The project came out great. The total length of the tracks was almost 14 km (of which 3,5 km were underground). There were 16 stopping platforms (three - underground configuration). At the same time, the construction of the second stage was underway, but due to lack of materials and insufficient funding, the commissioning of such an object, which the city needed, was delayed by almost 20 years. It was only completed at the end of 2011. The line is conceived and built entirely underground, with a total length of 3,8 km. There are three stations on the site.


The Volgograd high-speed tram successfully connected five city districts with just two routes. Travel time between terminal stations is the longest about 45 minutes. Passengers wait for the tram at stops up to 7 minutes, at rush hour the wait does not exceed 3-5 minutes. Already after the commissioning of the first stage of the Volgograd invention, the effectiveness of this unusual development became apparent. A similar project was successfully implemented in Krivoy Rog. So far, trams run at high speeds only in these cities, although there were plans to build such structures in many republics of the USSR.

Volgograd passengers have the opportunity to travel quickly and comfortably by city tram routes. They offer modern and safe rolling stock:

✅ 20 double-sided cars 71-623-03 (KTM-23-03)
✅ 10 three-section 71-154 (LAN-2009)
✅ 33 cars of the MTTA-2 series

Two obsolete Tatra T3R cars are still running. For the maintenance of tram tracks, railway workers use GS-4 and GS-5 snowplows, a TK-28 rail transporter and a train for railway workers. The wagons move along contact overhead wires both on ground sections and in tunnels. Underground stations are equipped with heating, ventilation and water supply. The length of the platforms of underground stations is 60 meters, as in a regular metro.

Modern traffic safety systems provide reliable protection for passengers. It is controlled by a traffic signal, an automatic blocking system, the organization of protective areas, as well as an UCPT device that prevents a person from entering the tunnel. Numerous video cameras and baggage screening devices have been installed throughout the stations.


Despite the obvious prospects and popularity of the project, further development of the Volgograd high-speed tram lines is not envisaged. The city authorities chose not to build the next line of trams capable of traveling underground. As before, the wagons will quickly fly from the Elshanka station, following to the tractor plant. But to the Volgograd State University, as previously thought, they were not destined to get there.