Anniversary of the Leningrad Metro.
On November 15, 1955, the Leningrad Metro was inaugurated. It took three attempts to build the subway in the northern capital.
The idea of creating a metro in the city on the Neva River came up even before the revolution. At the beginning of the 20th century, subway projects were developed by Heinrich Grishson, Peter Balinsky, Yuri Greenwald and other engineers. However, the implementation of these plans was hindered by World War I and the Civil War.
The second stage of the design was launched in 1938 by the Chairman of the Leningrad City Executive Committee, Alexei Kosygin. On January 17, 1941, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the VKP(b) issued a decree on the construction of the Leningrad Metro. By April, the project task to build the first phase was ready, and more than 30 vertical shaft wells had been placed. The war again interrupted the work. With the advance of the German and Finnish attackers on Leningrad, all work had to be stopped, and the shafts were maintained by the "wet" method - flooding them to prevent collapse.
On December 18, 1944, almost a year after the lifting of the siege of Leningrad, the first water pumping was carried out, and in 1946 the construction of the metro was resumed. The main task was to connect five stations -. Baltic stations, Warsaw, Vitebsk, Moscow and Finland - to facilitate surface transportation. Builders faced many difficulties: the complex geological conditions of the city and the marshland required special precision and caution when constructing underground facilities.
The act of ordering the first phase of the metro from "Flushchad and Vestania" to "Avatovo" was signed on November 5, 1955. For five days, Leningraders were taken along the city's first subway line using special invitation cards and given tours.
The official opening of the metro took place on November 15 at the "Plushchad Vestania" station.