Almaty’s unfinished underground system is known as the “golden metro” because of all the money sunk into the project. It’s been under construction since Soviet times, with work starting back in 1988.
While this money lined a lot of officials’ pockets, there was no end in sight to construction of the Almaty metro … until now.
I was one of a group of journalists invited to test ride the Almaty metro along with the city mayor, and leapt at the chance to descend into the bowels of the earth and see it for myself.
The first thing I couldn’t help noticing is that it’s nowhere near ready yet…
(issuing hard hats was a sensible precaution)
Secondly, to anyone used to the London tube, how spacious and prettily decorated it is…
The stained glass panels were a particularly nice touch, with each station (we visited several) having its own theme.
When completed, the Almaty metro will run from close to the Green Bazaar northwards, then turn and run east under Abai Prospect.
It’s supposed to open on Independence Day this year, December 16, but whether this is yet another deadline doomed to be missed is anyone’s guess.
Avoid the gridlock
Almaty, like most of the big cities in the former communist countries, has become clogged with traffic over the last few years. Car ownership has shot up, and the road infrastructure simply can’t cope with the increase. There are now around 500,000 cars in the city, and another 200,000 enter each day from the surrounding area.
While some new roads have been built, there are no separate lanes for buses, trams and trolleybuses so they simply get stuck in the traffic too. (Even if they built bus lanes, there’s no chance that car drivers would keep out of them.)
I liked the metro a lot and it’s going to be a great way to avoid the Almaty gridlock, so here’s hoping it won’t be another 23 years before it opens!
Steppe in Style 
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