An Independent East–West Line in 1938
The Moscow Metro’s Pokrovsky radius opened on March 13, 1938. Its new section ran through Ploshchad Revolyutsii to Kursky railway station and connected with the earlier Arbat branch, forming an independent line from Kievsky to Kursky railway stations. This marked a stage in the development of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line, whose western section had already operated before 1938.
When the first Moscow Metro stage opened in 1935, the Arbat route was a branch leaving the central section and terminating at Smolenskaya Square. In 1937 it crossed the Moskva River to Kievsky station. The branch and the new eastern section joined in 1938, allowing trains on the Sokolniki–Park Kultury and Kievsky–Kursky routes to be operated separately.
Tunneling through a Dense City Center
The Moscow Metro construction organization carried out the second stage, with engineers and architects working together on routes, tunnels, stations, and surface entrance halls. The collection on the second-stage project published in 1941 records that design began in spring 1935. Participants included architects from the first stage and newcomers such as Lev Polyakov. The new sections drew on the earlier teams and their experience.
The second stage increased the use of shields and cast-iron tunnel segments. After shield excavation, the segments were assembled into rings to form a lining that carried ground pressure. Metal structures also provided conditions for designing deep station spaces. Construction, structural work, and finishing were coordinated; platforms, equipment, and connections to the surface still had to be installed after the tunnels were completed.
The two ends used different forms of alignment. In the west, the Arbat extension crossed the Moskva River on a bridge to reach Kievsky railway station. The new Pokrovsky section in the east passed through the city center and included the deep stations Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Kurskaya. Bridges, tunnels, and stations together formed a transport route connecting the two railway terminals.
References: [1]
Structural Support and Station Art
Ploshchad Revolyutsii used the second stage’s deep-station structure. Passages between pylons connected its central hall and two platform tunnels. Cast-iron rings formed the tunnel linings, providing structural support and constraining the dimensions of the halls and passages. Escalators connected the surface entrance hall with the platforms below.
Alexei Dushkin led the architectural design of Ploshchad Revolyutsii, while Matvei Manizer helped create its prominent bronze figures. Placed on both sides of the arches, the figures depict revolutionaries, workers, peasants, and young people. The architect had originally considered reliefs, but freestanding sculpture was chosen. The figures’ poses fitted the narrow spaces beneath the arches and created the station’s distinctive visual rhythm.
From Branch Operations to Network Connections
The independent east–west line linked two railway terminals with the city center, allowing suburban rail passengers at Kievsky station to enter the metro network. Besides adding underground track, it changed the operating arrangement of the former branch and made the two ends across the city center a continuous transport route.
The Gorky route opened in September 1938, completing the Moscow Metro’s second stage. The added line also connected Belorussky railway station with the center. The area around Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Ploshchad Sverdlova stations gradually became an important interchange. A passage between them opened in 1946, followed by additional connecting passages as interchange spaces expanded with the network.
Wartime Eastern Expansion and a Postwar Western Rerouting
The extension east to Izmailovo belonged to a later construction stage. Work continued during the Second World War, and the eastern section opened in 1944 carried the line from Kursky railway station toward the eastern districts. Its service area expanded, adding underground connections between the center and industrial and residential areas.
The western section also underwent substantial change. An air raid hit the shallow Arbat–Smolenskaya tunnel in 1941. A new deep section built after the war reached Kievsky station in 1953, moving the route farther underground. The east–west connection of 1938 and the western reconstruction of 1953 thus formed two stages in the line’s early development.