2018 Tian Shan travel: Part 18

Commentary from 2021

This post comes from 24th of August 2018. It is about the metro tube in Almaty city, in Kazakhstan. The original post only laconically displays my path through the metro and doesn’t describe anything. I remember this being the most empty metro system in my life – not that I’ve been to a lot, but I’ve seen the tube in Moscow, Beijing, Madrid, Budapest or Warsaw and it’s the first time I’ve seen so few people in a metro system. Yes, granted, Kazakhstan is not Russia or China in terms of population, but Almaty city itself really isn’t small – UN’s 2017 data says 1.77 million people, and it wasn’t built yesterday. The metro line isn’t very extensive and doesn’t come too often, probably this is the reason. It’s very affordable, but the same as a bus.

Otherwise, the system seemed to me to be kept in good shape and reliable, built in distinct Soviet style – even if it started operations in 2011, after 23 years of construction. Its stations don’t have the decor of some of the Moscow’s stations, but it’s clean and comfy, music is nice, and the lack of crowds is, while unexpected, a massive virtue, not a flaw.

Original blog post links:
– https://2018tianshan.tumblr.com/post/177334298279/almaty-metro-local-tube
Original post from 24.08.2018 is copied below.