Turboatom

Opening date: 23 August 1975
Architects: P. Chechelnitskyi, V. Spivachuk
Engineers: P. Pashkov, T. Bischof
Station type: Shallow single-vault
English equivalent: Turbine Plant
Former name: Moskovskyi Prospekt (“Moscow Avenue”), until 16 October 2019 
Average daily ridership: 13,600 passengers (2015)

Turboatom was opened on 23 August 1975 as part of the first section of the Kharkiv Metro, which ran from Vulytsia Sverdlova (now Kholodna Hora) to Moskovskyi Prospekt (now Turboatom) and consisted of eight stations. The restrained architecture and clean geometric forms typical of Soviet metro construction in the 1970s characterize the stations of the original line. At the same time, each station was given its own distinctive character, thanks in large part to the work of the chief architect of the Kharkiv Metro, Volodymyr Spivachuk. The opening of the station coincided with the anniversary of the liberation of Kharkiv during the Second World War.

The station is located beneath Heroiv Kharkova Avenue, one of the city’s principal thoroughfares connecting the city centre with its southeastern districts. While it served as the eastern terminus of the line, it handled more than 60,000 passengers daily. Today, passenger traffic is relatively low. There are few residential buildings in the immediate vicinity, and most passengers are employees of nearby industrial enterprises or people transferring to surface public transport.

Beyond the station lies a double-track siding leading to the Nemyshlyanske Depot, where trains emerge onto the surface.

Description

Turboatom is a shallow single-vault station built of monolithic reinforced concrete using movable formwork and the standard Kharkiv single-vault design. The station features a restrained industrial aesthetic inspired by the nearby Turboatom plant.

The interior is dominated by a simple palette of white, grey, and black, reinforcing its industrial character.

The station’s most distinctive architectural feature is its lighting. Large circular luminaires, every five metres in diameter, are recessed into the vault, becoming an integral part of the ceiling itself. Each fixture contains fluorescent lamps arranged radially from the centre, creating a visual resemblance to the rotor of a turbine and subtly reinforcing the station’s industrial theme.

The track walls of Turboatom station are entirely clad in polished black labradorite.

A distinctive feature of the station is the relief pattern of the track walls, created by the rhythmic alternation of projecting and recessed sections.

The projecting sections are finished with textured decorative plaster, creating a striking contrast with the polished stone surfaces.

The station received its current name in honour of the nearby Turboatom plant.

The station floor is paved with grey granite slabs in various shades, predominantly light grey.

The stair railings and the walls of the station vestibules are clad in grey marble. The photograph also shows the newer style of interval clock and the illuminated “No Boarding” sign, which lights up before a train departs for the depot.

The station in the 2000s.

The original station name and signage on the track wall.

It was at Moskovskyi Prospekt station that the official ceremony marking the opening of the Kharkiv Metro took place on 22 August 1975. The event was attended by city and regional officials, representatives of the metro administration, and numerous distinguished guests.

The ceremony brought together the metro construction teams, whose seven years of dedicated work had given Kharkiv a new mode of public transport—the city’s fastest, most convenient, and most comfortable means of travel.

Trains stand on both sides of the platform. Beginning the following morning, they would carry passengers from early morning until late at night.

The station in its first days of operation.

The station in the 1980s.

Construction and projects

Of all the stations on the first section of the Kharkiv Metro, Turboatom was the last to enter construction. Work began only in April 1972, by which time the other stations were already well advanced. To make room for the construction site, the tram tracks along Moskovskyi Prospekt (now Heroiv Kharkova Avenue) were temporarily relocated.

The station was built using the cut-and-cover method at a shallow depth. Its standard single-vault design was developed by the Kharkivmetroproekt Institute. The design proved highly successful, became known as the Kharkiv Single-Vault, and was subsequently adopted for the construction of numerous metro stations in Moscow, Kyiv, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Tashkent, and many other cities throughout the former Soviet Union. Unlike the other single-vault stations on the first section, however, Moskovskyi Prospekt was built using an unusual construction sequence: the platform and internal structural elements were completed first, while the vault itself was erected afterwards.

The station was constructed of monolithic reinforced concrete using wide self-supporting reinforcement cages. The vault was cast in place using movable steel formwork that advanced along rails with the aid of hydraulic jacks.

Construction was not without its difficulties. Although the station itself was built by the cut-and-cover method, the running tunnels beneath Moskovskyi Prospekt had to be excavated using underground mining techniques, since closing one of the city’s busiest avenues to traffic was considered unacceptable. This required exceptional precision, as the tunnel works were constantly subjected to dynamic loads from vehicles passing overhead. In addition, two major district-heating pipelines carrying hot water were located in the ground directly above the tunnels. Thanks to the skill and coordination of the metro builders, neither ground settlement nor damage to the heating mains occurred during construction. The precision achieved was remarkable: the maximum vertical deviation of the station structures was only 3 millimetres, compared with the allowable tolerance of 50 millimetres.

Tram tracks along Moskovskyi Prospekt are being relocated to make way for construction of the station.

Construction of the platform and drainage channel within the station excavation.

Excavated soil being removed by dump trucks.

A view of the station excavation from above. Part of the vault has already been concreted, while the remaining section is still being prepared with reinforcement.

The excavation pit is almost completely backfilled.

A team of metro builders after completing a tunnel breakthrough near the Moskovskyi Prospekt station excavation.

The station six months before opening. The textured plaster finish has already been applied to the right-hand track wall, while the left-hand wall has yet to be completed.

Moskovskyi Prospekt station before the vault was whitewashed and the track walls were clad.

The station four months before opening. The reinforcement cages for the future ceiling light fixtures are already in place.

Installation of the contact rail.

Whitewashing the station vault.

The station two months before opening.

The station in the final days before opening.

The approved concept design.