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Baku MetroBakı Metropoliteni · since 1967
RUAZENHE
The beginning

History

From the grand opening of 1967 to the modern 'Moskva' trains.

The beginning

The first metro of the Caucasus

The Baku Metro opened on 6 November 1967 and became the fifth metro in the Soviet Union and the first in the entire South Caucasus. The first stage linked the city centre with residential districts, and even then the stations were built ornately, after the model of the Moscow and Leningrad metros.

In the following decades the network grew: new stations appeared, including very deep ones — designed so that they could serve as shelters in case of war. The metro became a symbol of the capital and its daily life.

Milestones

Through the decades

6 Nov 1967
The grand opening
The first stage of the Baku Metro opens — the fifth in the USSR and the first in the South Caucasus.
1970s–80s
The network grows
New stations and deep pylon halls are built; the metro becomes the main transport artery of Baku.
1990–92
New names
After independence the stations receive new names: '26 Baku Commissars' becomes 'Sahil', and later 'Baku Soviet' becomes 'Icherisheher'.
1995
A tragic page
In 1995 the metro suffered its gravest disaster — a fire in a tunnel that claimed hundreds of lives. The memory of the victims is kept to this day.
2016
The purple line
The first section of the third, purple line opens — Avtovağzal–Memar Ajami, a new architecture for the metro.
Today
New trains
The metro renews its rolling stock with modern 'Moskva' trains, builds new stations and depots, and plans to expand the network.
Heritage

A living monument of an era

The Baku Metro is both transport and a monument of an era. Its old stations keep the spirit of the Soviet monumental style fused with Azerbaijani ornament, while the new lines already speak a modern language.

In more than half a century the metro has become an inseparable part of Baku. It changes with the city, but remains the same underground world familiar to every Bakuvian.