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Minsk, the capital city of the former Soviet republic of Belarus, has 1.76 million inhabitants and is right in the centre of the country, more or less half way between Berlin and Moscow.

The Minsk metro network is a typical triangle system opened on 26 June 1984, after 8 years of construction. There are plans for a basic network of 58.3 km and 45 stations (3 lines). Line 3 was added in 2020 as a north-south line crossing the other two lines at Frunzenskaya (formerly Yubileinaya) and Pl. Lenina (for some time called Pl. Nezavisimosti / Pl. Niezalezhnasci - railway station), respectively:

Line 1 - Moskovskaya - 15 stations, 19.2 km
Line 2 - Avtozavodskaya - 14 stations, 18.1 km
Line 3 - Zelenoluzhskaya – 4 stations – 3.5 km
TOTAL (11/2020): 33 stations, 40.8 km

Due to geological conditions a shallow alignment was chosen for the Minsk metro (average 12-14 m). During construction of the Nemiga station, remains of an ancient city were found. Archeologists worked on the site for two years but eventually everything was covered with sand.

The Minsk Metro has standard Russian gauge (1524 mm), platforms are 100 m long and 10 m wide. Maximum speed of metro trains is 80 km/h on the first line and 70-80 km/h on the second line, except for the span between stations Nemiga and Frunzenskaya where trains run at speed 45 km/h. Since September 2002, 5-car trains have been running on the first line, while a fifth car was added to trains on the second line in June 2009.

The stations are accessible via pedestrian subways, only three stations in the centre have entrances in existing buildings: Oktyabrskaya, Kupalovskaya and Pl. Lenina. All stations except Pervomayskaya have island platforms. Mogilyovskaya, opened 5 Sept. 2001, was the first metro station in the ex-USSR to be equipped with elevators.

26/06/1984: Institut Kul'tury - Moskovskaya
30/12/1986: Moskovskaya - Vostok
07/11/2007: Vostok - Uruchye
07/11/2012: Institut Kul'tury - Petrovshchina (5.1 km)
03/06/2014: Petrovshchina - Malinovka (1.8 km)

Malinovka
Malinawka

Mikhalovo
Mikhalova

Grushevka
Hrushawka

Institut Kul'tury
Instytut Kul'tury

Ploshchad' Lenina
Ploshcha Lyenina

Oktyabrskaya
Kastrychnitskaya

Ploshchad' Pobedy
Ploshcha Peramohi

Ploshchad' Yakuba Kolasa
Ploshcha Yakuba Kolasa

Park Cheluskintsev
Park Chalyuskintsaw

Moskovskaya
Maskowskaya

Uruchye
Uruchcha

Photos © Alexei Bobko

See full Line 1 Moskovskaya Gallery

Kamennaya Gorka
Kamennaya Horka

Kuntsevshchina
Kuntsawshchina

Molodyozhnaya
Maladzyozhnaya

Frunzenskaya
Frunzyenskaya

Nemiga
Nyamiha

Kupalovskaya
Kupalawskaya

Pervomayskaya
Pershamayskaya

Proletarskaya
Pralyetarskaya

Traktorniy Zavod
Traktarny Zavod

Partyzanskaya
Partyzanskaya

Avtozavodskaya
Awtazavodskaya

Mogilyovskaya
Mahilyowskaya

Photos © Alexei Bobko

See full Line 2 Avtozavodskaya Gallery

07/11/2020: Yubileynaya Ploshchad' - Koval'skaya Sloboda (3.5 km)

Yubileynaya Ploshchad'
Yubilieynaya Ploshcha

Ploshchad' Frantishka Bogushevicha
Ploshcha Frantsishka Bahushevicha

Vokzalnaya
Vakzalnaya

Koval'skaya Sloboda
Kaval'skaya Slabada

Photos © Alexei Bobko

See full Line 3 Zelenoluzhskaya Gallery

Note: For better legibility, for Belorusian transliteration we use the BGN/PCGN romanization system (similar to Russian etc.) and not the standard visible inside the Minsk Metro!

 Projects

While Line 3 is planned to be extended north to the residential area of Zeleny Lug, a southern extension to Slutskiy Gostinets is already under construction (2023).

A fourth line might become a semi-circular line from Vesnyanka in the northwest to Serebryanka in the south, via Akademiya Nauk and Traktornyiy Zavod on the existing lines.

Metropoliten.by (Official Metro Website)

Minsktrans (Official Site - Other Urban Transport)

Stolichniy Transport i Svyaz' (Official Site - Transport in the Capital)

Minsk Metro at Wikipedia

Minskoye Metro

Minsk Metro.net

Minskiy Metropoliten

Minsk Metro @ Mir Metro by Dmitry V. Aksenov

Listen to some Sounds of the Minsk Metro

Map on the back of a magnetic subway ticket enlarged

Minsk Metro Track Map