On October 17, 2017, Facebook news page “Politicano” uploaded a video accompanied with a text message, which discusses the opening of Tbilisi metro during the Soviet government and the merits of the soviet government in the realisation of the project. In the editorial note, it is also mentioned that while the Soviet Union was building Metro stations, it could just be a dream in the Western countries.
Politicano: “After 26 years of independence the first new subway station ‘Universiteti’ was opened. It is truly a grandiose feat that merits congratulations. Everything though, started in 1966, when the fourth underground system of the Soviet Union was opened in Tbilisi (after Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev). It was an unprecedented infrastructural project for the period, something almost on an unimaginable scale. In 1966, the cities such as Amsterdam, Warsaw, Istanbul, Miami, Helsinki, Turin, Seoul, and San Francisco could only dream of possessing a subway, having their wishes fulfilled only decades later. To gauge the huge sum of money roughly taking into account the inflation, it would have been equivalent to around 15-20 billion US dollars. Vasil Pavlovich Mzhavanadze, at that time head of the Georgian government made a big contribution for the realization of this project and there is not even a single street or lane in Tbilisi bearing this man’s name. #Metropolitan #SovietGeorgia #Mzhavanadze.”
Politicano’s video post is manipulative and attempts to present the subject in a light that Western countries had no resources to create a metropolitan system and it could only just be a fantasy for them.
Please confer the data gathered about the oldest Metropolitan Systems of Western countries, which were constructed much earlier than the “Soviet Reconstruction”:
The London Underground is the world’s first urban subterranean railway system destined for the transfer of passengers. It was inaugurated on January 10, 1863 and connected Paddington Street (then Bishop Street) and Faringstone Street.
The construction of the Budapest Metropolitan System was started in 1894 by the German company “Siemens & Halske” on the Pest side of the city, along the Andrassy Avenue. The first line of the Budapest Metro (“Millennium Underground Railway”) was functional on May 2, 1896. It was the first electric underground line on continental Europe. The Budapest Metro consists of four lines, the first one being old and three new ones. In 2002 the first line of Budapest metro was granted UNESCO World Heritage Site Status.
Glasgow Metropolitan is the third oldest Underground Railroad system in the world after those of London and Budapest. It was launched on 14 December 1896 and is a circular line consisting of 15 stations, with a total length of 10,4 km, and a total travel time of 24 minutes.
The Paris Metro was opened on 19 July 1900. The first line was “Porte de Vincennes-Porte Maillot” is the oldest in continental Europe after of course the subway of Budapest. The Paris Metro already had 10 different lines by the time of 1913.
The Berlin Metropolitan (U-Bahn Berlin) was consecrated in 1902. The first line connected Nolendorf Platz to Warschauer Street. Today the Berlin Metro has 9 lines (U1-U9).
New York Subway was opened on October 27, 1904. It soon became America’s largest underground system. The first line was 9.1 miles long and had 28 stations. Today, the Metropolitan of New York has 26 lines and 468 stations, the largest number of all in the world.
The Hamburg Underground was launched on 15 February 1912. It has both subterranean and over ground lines. The fact that a large portion of the lines passes overland and viaducts distinguishes the Hamburg metropolitan.
The Madrid Metropolitan opened on 17 October 1919. The Metro consisted of eight stations with a length of 3.5 km.
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Myth Detector Laboratory
