The Metro (Ukrainian: Метро) is one of the pleasures of Kiev. It is a clean, fast subway system, and it is easy to navigate once you realize that all three metro lines (red, blue and green) go through the city centre. In total there are 49 stations, with ambitious plans for extension.
When you enter the Metro, you must purchase a token to travel from the cashdesk, Kasa (Ukrainian: каса). One token is valid for one trip, no matter how far you go. A token is 2 UAH and one needs to slip the token into the turnstyles to enter. A note of caution make sure you walk through the correct side of the turnstyle or you will be hit with a metal gate that will slam shut. You can also obtain an unlimited monthly ticket with a magnetic tape, which is available for sale for 95 UAH during the first week of the calendar month or the third week for half the price (but not strictly so).
At platform level, all signage is in Cyrillic , so it's best to correlate the Cyrillic station names on the wall to the transliterated names on your map book. Once inside the train, the metro route maps over central windows have names transliterated into Latin letters, and there is a station announcement as the metro approaches each station, as well as TV screens in many carriages. Between stations, they show adverts, but flag an impending station before arrival. Upon departure, they then show the next station.
Metro station escalator
Metro stations where you can interchange have two different names - one for each line. If you are changing lines, the other station can be reached by an overpass in the centre or near one of the ends of the platform.
Trains run every 30 to 150 seconds during business hours and every 10 to 15 minutes from 11PM till 1AM at the last station. They are often very crowded. Be prepared to push, as this may be the only way you get on the train during peak hours.
It's interesting to note that the Kiev metro has some of the deepest stations in the world. The Arsenal'na station (Ukrainian: Арсенальна) station is the deepest metro station in the world, at 107 meters deep, and the Universytet station (Ukrainian: Університет) has one of the longest escalators (87 meters long).
If you enable "Cell Info Display" on your GSM phone, it will show you the name of the station (in transliterated Latin characters (for UMC and Kyivstar subscribers) just like your map) when you are underground in the vicinity of a station. Your mobile/cell/handy should work on most of the network, including between stations.
Spend some time looking at the stations. The red line features impressive architecture, similar to that seen in the Moscow and Saint Petersburg metro systems.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Kiev
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Kiev Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
