The Saltivska line is the second line of the Kharkiv Metro operating since 1984, serving Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. The Saltivska Line is the shortest line segment of the system, at, with a total of eight stations. Unique to the Kharkiv Metro is the Saltivska line's metro bridge, which passes above the Kharkiv River between the Kyivska and Akademika Barabashova stations, respectively. Geographically, the Saltivska line cuts Kharkiv on a northeast-southwest axis, provides subway access to much of Saltivka. It connects the city's largest residential neighborhood with the Constitution Square and Freedom Square in the city center. The Saltivska line is second behind the Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska Line with a daily ridership of 380,250 passengers. There are current proposals that would expand the Saltivska line to include an extra six stations and a split line segment, although these are only in the planning stage and they are not scheduled to start construction until the mid-2020s at the earliest.
History
Since the late 1970s, an expansion of the Kharkiv Metro system was planned towards the then newly developed Saltivka neighborhood, located away from the industrial neighborhoods of the city. Accordingly, on April 9, 1976, the Soviet government adopted a plan to construct a second line on the Kharkiv Metro. Owing to the hilly city landscape towards the southwestern terminus of the Station, the line's first three stations are located deep underground, with the Pushkinska station becoming the deepest station of the system at underground. The rest of the stations on the line were built close to the surface, due to their proximity to the Kharkiv River. Construction on the line's second segment began in 1981, continuing on till the last three stations were opened on October 24, 1986.
Timeline
Name changes
Following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent Ukrainian independence, some of the stations were renamed to more neutral equivalents, sometimes avoiding reference to significant Soviet institutions and their leaders. In addition to the renaming of the line to its current title with the subsequent name change at the Kholodna Hora station, two other stations were renamed, the last of which occurred in 2004.
Following the traditional Soviet metro planning, the second line is crossed by two other line segments at high traffic locations. Currently, the Saltivska line's two transfer stations with the Kholodnohirsko–Zavodska line and the Oleksiivska line are at the southwestern terminus of the line. Specifically, the Saltivska line has two transfer stations:
Just like with the Kiev Metro, government planning agencies allowed for a maximum of five carriage trains that would fit on the station platforms without any modification to the station structure. Specifically, 20 five-carriage trains are assigned to serve the Saltivska line. The Saltivska line is the first in the system to use the 81-714/717 wagon models that have become the most widespread in the former USSR and Eastern Europe. It is serviced by the Depot-2 "Saltivske," located immediately after the metro bridge.
Future extension
Since its latest extension in 1986, the Saltivska line is the third in the system in terms of length. It has a total of eight stations in operation, although a further four are in the early planning stages: the Druzhby Narodiv station is planned northwards from the line's current terminus Heroiv Pratsi; eastwards from the Akademika Barabashova station, a three station segment is planned; as well as a southwestern extension at the other end of the Saltivska line at Ploshcha Urytsky and Zhovtneva, respectively. However, these planned additions would be in the long term perspective at least, considering that no official initiative to begin the construction at either ends was outlined in the "Oblast Program of Construction and the Expansion of the Kharkiv Metropoliten, 2007-2012."
