Thread: Unusual Moscow metro train and metro stations elsewhere.

Originally Posted by Johanna

EDIT:I think that map is mistaken. Lausanne is not a big town at all! I've been there many times and I have never seen any metro. The town is just hills. There is a funky kind of funiculaire tram, that's all. Likewise - Frankfurt simply hasn't got a metro - I was there only a few months ago and there is no metro!

He made this map by own rules.

What is a metro?

My personal definition is:

1) An urban electric mass rail transport system, i.e. it is primarily used to move within the city
2) Totally independent from other traffic, rail or street traffic
3) High frequency service (maximum interval approx. 10 minutes during normal daytime service)

Obviously a metro does not have to be underground (this is why I prefer this term to 'subway' or 'underground' or 'U-Bahn' as all these terms imply a tunnel), it can also be elevated or at grade. A metro does not necessarily use heavy rail technology, therefore the Docklands Light Railway or the Lille VAL are full metro services, with the only difference that their capacity is smaller according to the needs of the city/area they serve. It's also irrelevant whether the metro runs on steel wheels or rubber tyres, is monorail or conventional double rail, uses third rail power supply or overhead wire, is fully automated or has a driver, has standard, narrow or broad gauge.

There are many mixed forms nowadays and probably there will be even more in the future. In Europe (especially Germany and the Benelux) light rail systems (Stadtbahn, Premetro) have been bridging the gap between metros and trams for some decades now and provide, in most cases, a perfect service in their city. For the time being I can only cover these mixed systems (which I'd like to refer to as metroTrams) in Europe only, although also in America and Asia more and more networks of this kind are being built.

April 1 1996 students joke: new station "Физтех" on the metro maps in Moscow subway (see on the top in the middle).

"Физтех" (PhysTech) is a short name of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.

Maps in all trains on grey line (line 9) and in a substantial part of trains on another lines were modified by professionally made stickers. It took for metro bosses about two weeks to respond to the joke and eliminate the "station" from maps.

Some people said that after that "Физтех" station appear even on some printing materials - calendar and city guide.

This joke was derived from traditional PhysTech Aplir 1 jokes: renaming train stops by removing some elements and even whole letters on his signs
ДОЛГОПРУДНАЯ to ДОЛГОГРУДНАЯ (adjective from long ponds => adjective from long breasts)
and
НОВОДАЧНАЯ to ВОДАЧНАЯ (or even to ВОДOЧНАЯ) (adjective from new dacha => adjective from vodka)




http://www.metro.ru/tales/1.html
http://ffke1975.narod.ru/s/s7/s75/s751/metro.htm

Wow - that Kiev metro is super stylish!
Thanks Lampada!
No ads anywhere. Great I think.
The USSR was definitely the king of Metro building.

Oh I was mistaken about Lausanne - they have built a metro there since I was last there. What a waste of money! Plus it's incomprehensible how you can build a metro in a city that is one big hill. I am 100% certain that there is no metro in Frankfurt, so his definition must be including S-bahns (city rail) which is a completely different thing than a metro. I think it's called called "eletrichka" in Russian. Also Frankfurt has a very spunky tram.

Complete map of Helsinki metro.... LOL!!! They ALREADY had both trains, trams and buses.... but perhaps they travelled east or west and though "got to have one of those anyway!"


I didn't understand the student joke from the technical institute because I didn't know these words in Russian... but now I do.

When I studied Russian in school, one of the first things that the text book did was explain all about means of transport, including TROLLEYBUSES which hardly exist in Europe but are very common in Russia.(E.g. "if you go to Russia make sure you do not get run over by a trolleybus!")

Apparently they cause a lot of accidents because they are quiet so people don't hear them, and they cannot easily turn away. (???) Do you like them? Too bad the youtube videos are dead on this site because I would have like to find a video and paste it.

Trolleybuses are a bit exotic & cool to a European!

You may find that interesting. We have 2 metros in Moscow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow_Metro_2

I know this train perfectly...

http://trilirium.livejournal.com/3440.html

I was really fascinated by the "metro dva" system that Ramil mentioned. How cool is that????

In London we have some "ghost tube stations" (closed for the public, the train just drives past). But that is nothing compared with a complete secret metro line... or several.

I'm surpised that some fanatic "urban explorer" hasn't managed to get down to the "metro dva" and take some photos.

A ghost tube station (not in use)

Metro 2 is not abandoned. It is functional and I doubt "urban explorers" can get there since it's heavily guarded. Moreover, they continue expanding it, adding new stations and maybe lines.

By the way - you may want to check Russian version of that wiki article. It contains a lot more information about Metro 2.

Originally Posted by Scorpio

I know this train perfectly...

I will start correcting incorrect English more.... So here it goes:

Your meaning is clear from the sentence above.. But actually, you should say either:

"I am quite familiar with this train" / "I am very well familiar with this train."
or
"I know this train (very) well".

Originally Posted by Johanna

Originally Posted by Scorpio

I know this train perfectly...

I will start correcting incorrect English more.... So here it goes:

Your meaning is clear from the sentence above.. But actually, you should say either:

"I am quite familiar with this train"
or
"I know this train very well".

Or just "I know this train perfectly well".

Originally Posted by Оля

Or just "I know this train perfectly well".

Haha.... yeah that's right! Simple!

There is a tiny nuance with saying "I know this train perfectly well." Basically it makes the speaker sound a tiny bit defensive....As if somebody had been suggesting that he had never seen that train!

Like this:

-- I bet you have never even heard of the new modern train on the Moscow Metro!
-- I am perfectly well aware of it and have travelled in it many times. Why would you think that I didn't know about it?

As opposed to:

-- Did you know that there is a new modern train in the metro?
--- Yes I do! In fact, I know it very well! I see it every morning. Nice, isn't it?

"Perfectly well" is also used when you want to tell somebody off (reprimand them). For example:

"You know perfectly well that we can't afford to go on holiday right now!"
or
"The children know perfectly well that it is forbidden to walk on the lawn."

It implies (means) that the person certainly knows about a certain situation and that he has no excuse for saying/doing something that contradicts it.

.........Or:

Quirrell: Severus, I…
Snape: You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell.
Quirrell: I don't understand what you mean...
Snape: You know perfectly well what I mean. We'll have another little chat soon. When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie.

Frankly speaking, that's where I've learnt the phrase from.

Originally Posted by Оля

.........Or:

Quirrell: Severus, I…
Snape: You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell.
Quirrell: I don't understand what you mean...
Snape: You know perfectly well what I mean. We'll have another little chat soon. When you've had time to decide where your loyalties lie.

Frankly speaking, that's where I've learnt the phrase from.

Gotta love Harry Potter! Of course you know Olya, I would say... I learned... But I seriously doubt that Alan would!

Class Olya!

I have learnt some expressions from Russian films that I've watched recently.... Only simple ones, but they sound great. Watch this space! (=slang for "I will tell you more some other time)


When I first moved to the UK I did not know English to this level. I would not have known the difference between saying "perfectly well" and "very well".

So I although my English was at at a very high level, I still sometimes came out as (=was percieved to be) a tiny bit "rude" and sometimes "aloof" (at least that's what good friends told me).

Because I had hardly no foreign accent, people were not automatically forgiving when I said something that was slightly "off". (=sounded strange/rude/brusque). They thought I was a rude native speaker with a slightly different dialect that they didn't recognise.

Well, it's something to watch out for! Anybody who plans to work with English people should learn to "smalltalk" about the weather and their families..... And to say "please", "thank you" etc about 10 times more often than you would in your own language...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Stockholm

Haha Lampada - I am proud to be Swedish!
I know that station very well. I hope they'll keep the funny stair.

Originally Posted by Lampada

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

Stockholm

LAMPADA!!! Thank you so much for finding this and posting it! I sent it to the principal of the girl's school and sort of jokingly suggested that we do this at the school (remember we are a performing arts school) and she actually thought it was a great idea! So she sent my email to about 6 people within the school system saying we now need to get grant money and asking them how we would go about doing a set of stairs so they would actually last! (I also suggested a kill switch.)

I have since emailed the US office of the company who did the spot and they sent it the Europe office telling them to help me! I also found out that Sony Japan did a more industrial version of the stairs as well! Not as pretty but much more functional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LML45dxPO6E&NR=1

And then I found one that the tone is the best! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGKQqCgb6vo

Maybe there is a way to combine the best elements of all three?

Thanks again

they just opened 3 new metro stations in Moscow, one of which took 15 yrs to build.
Here's video of what the stations look like.

http://www.1tv.ru/news/n158262

Originally Posted by sperk

they just opened 3 new metro stations in Moscow, one of which took 15 yrs to build.
Here's video of what the stations look like.
http://www.1tv.ru/news/n158262

Uncompleted Myakinino looks really ugly in some places (not shown there -e.g. http://russos.ru/img/metrostroi/mitino/mitino-387.jpg )

Originally Posted by vox05

Originally Posted by sperk

they just opened 3 new metro stations in Moscow, one of which took 15 yrs to build.
Here's video of what the stations look like.
http://www.1tv.ru/news/n158262

Uncompleted Myakinino looks really ugly in some places (not shown there -e.g. http://russos.ru/img/metrostroi/mitino/mitino-387.jpg )

Anyway - finally a fast way to get to the Crocus city mall. It's pure hell to go there by car.