Orlavo Metro

Orlavo Metro

Overview
Native name	Метро Орлаво
Owner	Orlavo District Government
Area served	Orlavo
Locale	Orlavo
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	8
Number of stations	62
Daily ridership	1.431 million daily
Annual ridership	494.56 million
Chief executive	Petro Trochanov
Operation
Began operation	2 September 1953 (1953-09-02)
Operator(s)	Orlavo Metropolitan Transport Authority
Number of vehicles	874 cars (in 150 trains)
Technical
System length	68.648 mi (110.478 km)
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11 27⁄32 in)
Average speed	36.11 mph (58.11 km/h)
Top speed	50 mph (80 km/h)

The Orlavo Metro (Narodyn Метро Орлаво) is a rapid transit system serving Orlavo, Vinalia. Opened in 1948 with one 10-kilometre line and 6 stations, it was the first underground railway system in North Vinalia, and until 1988 the only system in both Vinalia's. As of 2019, the Orlavo Metro, has 62 stations across 8 lines, and its route length is 68.648 km (42.656 mi), making it the largest in Vinalia. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section 74 metres (243 ft) underground at the New Steelworks station, one of the world's deepest underground stations. It is the busiest metro system in Vinalia, as the system carries 1.431 million passengers daily (2019), accounting for 48.7% of Orlavo's public transport load (as of 2019). In 2019, the metro carried 494.56 million passengers.

History

Proposal

The first idea for an underground railway was flaunted around in 1937, after development elsewhere in the world, the idea of building such a system intrigued government officials which desired to prove with the project North Vinalian technological, engineering, and monetary prowess over the south. Plans were drawn out which called for an initial line running northwards under Liberty boulevard all the way to the Field of Liberty some 10 km's of stretch, with 5 stations every 2 km's. Although desire to build the system remained high, funding was a considerable hassle, following the recent civil war Orlavo was in need of reconstruction and a lack of government funding to support reconstruction tied down city resources, the plan was slotted to begin construction in 1942.

In 1942 with the explosion of the Second Vinalian Civil War the year prior the plan was revised and updated, calling for only 3 stations in a 9 km stretch with a construction date to be announced in the future. In 1945 after 3 years of delay the plan was once again revised, calling for the construction of 10 km's of tunnels with 6 stations, the central government now more open to the proposal approved the funding necessary for the building of the metro. The construction of the metro was kept on schedule, although problems arose over the cut and cover method disrupting the Liberty Boulevard causing traffic delays until it was opened. The metro was inaugurated the 2nd of September 1953 just in time for the 15th anniversary of the revolution, it was inaugurated by Minister-President of the Presidium Valerij Ishkan. The line was called the Liberty Line or L for short (today known as 1A).

First years

Workers Square station in 1959

The metro was quickly adopted and grew in popularity in Orlavo, as many rushed to the system as a sign of protest to the city's expensive and inefficient bus systems. City officials had by 1955 approved further expansion of the system building another 3 stations for the L line, along with the expansion of Workers Square station to serve as the central hub of the system, this expansions were furthered expanded upon in 1959, when 4 more stations were approved to the L line, along with 5 stations for a 2nd Line (2 Line) headed westward from Workers Square, ending in the New Steelworks station. Construction for the 2nd line faced more problems than construction elsewhere, the soil upon which the 2nd line was to cross was highly unstable and a tunnel collapse in June of 1961 left 11 workers dead and 15 more injured, as an entire section of the tunnel collapsed.

New Steelworks Station

Following the incident construction was delayed for the 2nd line as new geographical studies were conducted, the explosion of war once again in late 1961 drove the project into a dormant state. In January 1962 a Southern Vinalian air raid caused damage to the metro infrastructure causing the Worker's Square station to be burned to the ground, paralyzing the metro and forcing it's shutdown until the station could be repaired or rebuilt. Once the war was over the City Council voted for the construction of a new station, along with new plans for the metro expanding the 2nd line from 5 to 7 stations, along with the construction of a secondary tunnel northwestwards from Workers Square which was to become line L2 (1B) with 3 stations.

Construction for the 2nd line once again faced issues, as heavy collection of sewage and ground water left over from broken pipes from the 1962 raids made it difficult to drain, and stations from the New Steelworks until Vodushno (at the time the 2nd line termini), were built further underground requiring upgrades to the VOR-EA212 trains, which could not climb properly from the station. Despite heavy difficulties the 2nd line was finished in 1966, and the L2 in 1967.

Further expansion

Train exiting Workers Square of the 2nd Line

In 1966 with the election and rise of the "New Nation" movement of Prime Minister Danylo Palij, which advocated for Northern Vinalian superiority over the the Southerners in a variety areas, which saw particular interest in expanding the metro further. Palij approved vast expenditure plans for the metro, alongside the acquisition of new trains in the VOR-EA313. The L line was renamed to 1A, alongside L2 to 2B, Palij expanded both lines by 7 stations in 1A (bringing it to it's modern termini in Durval), and the construction of 4 new stations for 1B (again bringing it to it's modern termini of Brovarska). Construction began at the earnest and through the use of prisoner labor, alongside new technologies which made tunneling faster and safer. A terrorist attack by the Episemialist League would hit Workers Square on the morning of the 15th of December, 1970. Leaving 30 dead and over 50 injured, this attack would start a series of 3 attempted and 2 successful terrorist attacks on the metro leaving over 100 dead and 200 injured over the course of 8 years. Such attacks would rock usage of the metro which would see it's passenger count drop, regardless of this the project had by 1975 been mostly finished with only 2 stations remaining unfinished for the 1A.

Palij held a second phase of expansions for two more lines one starting in Point Sofia transversing Workers Square and into the new Orlavo University campus, and another line transversing the Loik boulevard from north to south which would help to ease congestion in Workers Square. Construction in the at the time called Sofia Line (modern 5th Line), began in February 1975 but was delayed by the start of the 31 Day War a couple months after, which saw North Vinalia defeated. The New Nation movement was voted out a month after the defeat and construction of both lines was frozen, internal investigations had discovered rings of corruption in the metro which led to over 15 arrests in 1976, 1977, and 1979 among them, former Chief Executive Andrij Yevhe. By 1978 with the 17th of March terror bombing in Brovarska, ridership dropped to the lowest count in history, with concerns over the continued upkeep of the system in doubt.

Renewal

Construction being carried out on the 5th Line

In 1979 following the arrest of Andrij Yevhe, the metro underwent a period of administrative rebuilding the former chief of the Swetapolis metro Carsten Wahle was brought to become the new chief, Wahle began widespread reform in the system maintaining the necessity of a worthwhile service, along with securing funding for the refurbishment of many stations, citing the lack of care given to the maintenance of the stations, funding was easily secured following rumours of possible corruption links between the metro and provincial authorities. Wahle had been able by 1984 refurnished the system, improving it's faulty signals system and tracks which had created usual delays and required frequent maintenance. In 1985 construction on a new line called the 3rd Line began from Bayfront in the residential areas of the bay, to Workers Square began the line being the only connection into the residential heavy areas of the western bay which had seen considerable growth in the 70's. The following year construction on the 4th Line began going under Loik Boulevard as had been previously planned, going from Beresteiska Center to Burunsdi linking up with the 2nd Line, improvements for handicapped accessibility began in many stations.

With the end of the Vinalian struggles large scale investment came to the metro, which had by 1989 allowed the system to build another further 2 lines the 5th Line stretching from Point Sofia to the Orlavo University, construction of the 4 lines at the same time created logistical problems for the city as it was hard to mobilize heavy machinery in the crowded streets of Orlavo. In 1993 with the establishment of the Vinalian Republic, further funding reached the metro and had by 1995 secured expansion of another further 3 stations to the 2nd Line, along with the expansion of the 4th Line to the planned West Orlavo Sports Complex (today the Red Foxes Stadium). With the opening of the 3, 4, 5 Lines before the year 2000, the metro reached over a million daily passengers, with plans to further expand the system in Line 3 approved. Wahle would retire from his position and be succeeded by Maksym Samojlenko as the Chief of the metro.

Modern day

Metro logo from 1953-2005

The election of Yana Nahorna in 2004 for Orlavo Mayor saw the aggressive construction of 2 lines pushed the Zhe (Ж) Line, and the O Line or Circle Line, the Zhe Line is to extend from Zavodska in the bay to Pokrovska in the south of the City, while the O Line is to start in Beresteiska Center in the North go through Workers square and finally end in Burunsdi, construction of this two lines was marked as the end of the rapid expansion of the metro. Both lines were finished in September 2014. Construction of an extra 1.5km stretch between Bondar station and Klovska was started in 2012 culminating in 2015 for the 2nd Line. In 2010 a deal was also agreed to change the entire fleet of rolling stock in the system for the NU-1544.

The Metro is set to expand a further 3 stations by 2025 with the expansion of the 3rd Line from Pochaina to the Dunas International Airport, construction is to begin in 2020.

Infrastructure

Lines

Livery and #	Name	Native Name	Date of first Opening	Most recent station opening	Termini		Number of stations
	1A Line	1A Лінія	1 September 1953	1 September 1975	Liberty Beach Пляж Свободи (Plyazh Svobody)	Durval Дурвал (Durval)	15*
	1B Line	1Б Лінія	13 March 1967	1 September 1975	Workers Square Площа робітників (Ploshcha Robitnykiv)	Brovarska Броварська (Броварська)	7*
	2 Line	2 Лінія	21 September 1966	16 October 2015	Workers Square Площа робітників (Ploshcha Robitnykiv)	Klovska Кловська (Klovska)	10*
	3 Line	3 Лінія	11 September 1997	26 April 2004	Bayfront Бейфронт (Beyfront)	Pochaina Дурвал (Pochaina)	9*
	4 Line	4 Лінія	11 September 1998	18 December 2004	Beresteiska Center Центр Берестейська (Tsentr Beresteysʹka)	Red Foxes Stadium Стадіон Червоні лисиці (Stadion Chervoni lysytsi)	7*
	5 Line	5 Лінія	7 August 1999	7 August 1999	Point Sofia Точка Софія (Tochka Sofiya)	Orlavo University Університет Орлаво (Universytet Orlavo)	9*
	Zhe Line	Ж Лінія	15 September 2014	15 September 2014	Zavodska Заводська (Zavodsʹka)	Pokrovska Центр Покровська (Tsentr Pokrovsʹka)	8*
	O (Circle) Line	O Лінія	15 September 2014	15 September 2014	Beresteiska Center Центр Берестейська (Tsentr Beresteysʹka)	Burunsdi Бурунді (Burunsdi)	3*

• -Counting Transfers

Stations

Bayfront station Mosaic

The Orlavo metro has 62 stations in the system, the metro has been praised for it's architecture with architecture in the old town of Orlavo holding colonial style architecture in it's stations. Stations built after the 1979 arrival of Carsten Wahle from Swetania, shows many similarities with stations found back in his native Swetania, with large murals and mosaics showing artistic depictions of life, some of this murals such as the murals in Bayfront station painted by North Vinalian artist Artur Slojovac, have been marked as a Vinalian Symbol of Culture by the Ministry of Culture, some 8 stations have such designation since such classification was established in 1994, making them protected pieces of Vinalian culture.

The Orlavo Metro has been criticized by disability rights activists for it's inaccessible or lacking infrastructure for handicapped commuters in the system. Since the late 80's improvements on such an issue have been started, and all stations built since 1995 by law must comply with requirements, despite large improvements on this area, some 3 stations have been marked as needing of upgrades to better service handicapped commuters, and the central government has moved to fix this issue.

Rolling stock

1544 Model in an advertisement

As of 2019 there are 874 wagons in operations, mostly from the 70's North Vinalian model VOR-EA313 accounting for 600 wagons, while there are 375 newer NU-1544 models from 2010, and some 99 wagons from the VOR-EA212 model of the 1950's which was the first model in the system designed from models in other countries, they're to be rolled out by 2020 with the VOR-EA313 in 2022, with 10 (5 of each model) to be kept for special occasions such as anniversaries of the metro.

Since 2000 all wagons have had visual informational displays installed with interactive maps of the system, this systems are equally found in stations. An audio system announces information of relevance to the passenger, in Workers Square station information regarding the many transfers and attractions is the longest announcement at a minute and 30 seconds. On special occasions special announcements are made, such as in the Salutary festival during the 1st and 2nd of June in Burunsdi station announcing festival activities during the 2 days, when Orlavo has hosted the Sports Week (2002, 2008, and 2017) announcements of events near the stations were made.

Management

The Orlavo Metro is managed by the provincial transport authority, the OMTA (Orlavo Metropolitan Transport Authority) since 1993, after the Federal District of Orlavo was established, being transferred from the City of Orlavo (which stopped defacto existing) to the provincial government. The metro has established a real estate sister company which controls the land above the stations with the exception of public (such as the Worker's Square), and private (such as Red Foxes Stadium), Bresteiska Center is owned and managed by this sister company as it was bought in 1996. The metro is operated by chief executive Petro Trochanov since 2015, and manages it alongside a group of five appointed individuals two are appointed by the City Council, another by the mayor, and one from the Ministry of Transport.

Culture

Musicians playing in Kirkon station in Music November 2018

In 2003 the Orlavo Metro launched a public contest to create the anthem of the system, some 500 songs were submitted to the event organizers, which were through 5 rounds of voting lowered to 10 choices. Although many songs were from popular artists from Orlavo, it came as a shock when Orlavo based underground Post-Rock band Rockets in the Air won the contest, with over 15,000 votes over it's next contestant. Their song "Orlavo Metro" which had been made earlier 3 years prior, struck with listeners which supported the song and the band, jumping the relatively unknown band to the national stage. The song plays inside stations, where it has been joined by the entire album since 2009, along with user voted songs which today number over 50 songs playing in the metro 15 of which belong to Rockets in the Air.

The metro has become a hub for musicians, where spaces can be reserved to play inside in about 40 stations throughout the system, in 2015, an initiative by the OMTA saw some 100 musicians play throughout the system in the month of November as a public outreach initiative named Music November. The event has been repeated ever since 2015, in 2018 the largest of this acts was carried by Rockets in the Air following the release of their new album in Workers Square which gathered some 2,000 people, the station had to be temporarily closed do to safety concerns.

Future

3rd Line Expansion

Following the completion of the Circle line in 2014, in 2010 a deal was reached for the NU-1544 train to replace all the old rolling stock in the system was reached to great public reception. In 2017 Worker's Square station started a renovation period of 3 years, alongside another 5 "key" stations in the system meant to improve the technology of the stations. In 2020 newly elected Orlavo mayor Tsvetnova Ajac announced that the construction for the expansion of the 3rd Line had been approved, such expansion had been planned in 2010 but lack of need and construction of projects elsewhere in the system delayed the construction of the extension which was to add 3 new stations to the line, construction is set to begin in July 2020.