Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: metro

I've got some older photos of Depo Hostivar from when it opened in 2006, but I'm saving them for a more special occasion. This is how the station looks today, and it's still the newest A Line station since the A hasn't been extended to Ruzyne airport yet. Originally it was a normal part of the depot, as far as I know, so basically the trains still run into the former depo buildings above ground, with the throat being the only aboveground part of the Prague Metro currently used for revenue service.

Like Luziny, Hurka was part of the Zlicin extension in 1994, and like Luziny it's an above ground station. It's an alternate station to Nove Butovice, also serving Sidliste Nove Butovice.

Roztyly Station was opened on the C-Line in 1980 as part of the Haje extension. It was originally known as Primatora Vacka (Mayor Vacka), but was renamed in 1990 as part of the anti-Communist renaming of many Metro stations.

Palmovka Metro station was built on the B-Line in 1990, making it one of the first post-Communist stations. The projector and screen on the right is for the "Metrovision" news service, now being run by Barrandov Studios.

Here's another 81-71M Class arriving in Andel. In unrebuilt form, these would have been the original B-Line trains.

Here's an alternate shot of the Andel ceiling.

The ceiling in the platform area of Andel would have no doubt looked quite futuristic in 1977, although I don't know if it's original. I brings to mind sci-fi movies of the period.

Moskevska station, on the B-Line, now known as Andel, was built between 1977 and 1985, and was one of the original B-Line stations. It also featured more Communist propaganda in its design than any other station, especially the bronzes along the platforms celebrating the Moscow Olympics in 1980, as well as the Soviet space programme. Another theme was the "friendship" or "peace" between Moscow and Prague.......since the Soviet army invaded Prague in 1968 to ensure this would always be the case. In spite of the Soviet Union's fall, and the Velvet Revolution against Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the modern-day Czech authorities have left the Andel station alone, with the only change being the name change to Andel in 1990.

Here's a 81-71M Class Metro train, originally built in the Soviet Union and based on Moscow Metro trains, the 81-71 Class have now been fully rebuilt with new seats and interiors, as well as modern electronics, making them 81-71M's. The 81-71 Class were not the first Prague Metro trains, though, as the first trains had been Ecs Class Metro trains similar to those now used in Budapest. The A (green) and B (yellow) lines now use them exclusively, while the C Line uses the new Seimens M1's.

Here's a closeup of the palm tree.

The Luziny Metro Station, on Line B, was constructed in 1994 as part of the Nove Butovice-Zlicin expansion. Line B actually opened in 1985 on a more limited route from Florenc-Smichovske Nadrazi, and didn't reach its current extent (Zlicin-Cerny Most) until 1998. Kolbenova station is even newer, dating to 2001. In any case, Luziny is on of the most distinctive on the Metro system both because it's above ground and because it has these palm trees encased in glass.

In the past two years or so, I've noticed a really cool 19th-Century-style gas balloon (as opposed to a modern hot air balloon) that's been used for sightseeing over the Mala Strana. The last time I saw it, some idiot had thought it would be a good idea to cover it with grafitti, but this was when it still looked good, there on the upper right. The building in the foreground is the Malostranska Metro station, and the Metrocafe.

Here's where it was, just to show I'm not making this story up....

I've forgotten the full details of why I was in Dejvicka on this particular day, but often this is the first Metro station I get to after flying into Praha Ruzyne airport, although such was not the case on this day. Rather, I discovered a BR (British, Network Rail, etc.) train ticket dropped on the platform. Living in a major European city post-Schengen, you see all sorts of tickets from all the EU countries lying on the ground, but I liked this one because it reminded me of Britain. It wasn't the first one I had seen, and it probably won't be the last. I've also seen Paris and Brussels metro tickets lying on the floor of Prague Metro stations.

This is my first color photo of Nuselsky Most, the tallest bridge in Prague. It doesn't look it, but it's actually both a road and metro bridge, as that spine down the belly of it contains tracks for metro trains. Therefore...Graham! This one's for you. :-)

This is the entrance to a World War II bomb shelter that was located in one of the Untergrundbahn stations, although regrettably I've forgotten which one. If anyone remembers I would love to know.

And...here it is, an active rail facility, Bruckenmeisterei Werkstatt, still in existence in a railyard that's been abandoned for so long that trees are growing through the tracks and the whole place has become a park. I wasn't trespassing when I took this, by the way, but rather I found a crack in the door just barely big enough for my lens, and then I had to crop this before I posted it. That train sitting there, by the way, is an old untergrundbahn, or subway/metro train, and I have no idea what it's doing here.

Namesti I.P. Pavlova (not actually visible in this photo) has two tram stops, a Metro Station (just down the steps in the center and left of this photo), and a bus stop (way back on the left, two blocks away, around the corner), but it's just as often a place where you change trams or modes as it is equipped so well for the locals' use.