Metro 2

NEED TO MOVE

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro-2

After World War II, construction of underground shelters, meant to protect civilians from after-effects of nuclear bombing, started in Moscow. But the highest government and military officials needed special protection – during wartime, only they can make decisions and apply measures to save the country.

Specially fortified shelters were built under strict secrecy in different parts of Moscow. To escape Moscow in case of bombing, the people in charge also needed means of secure transportation. Regular subway was unfit for that because of low level of protection, so “second subway” was constructed – it connects major government shelters and underground command centers, and also has a long radius leading outside the city borders, to vast suburban shelters. This system was labeled “Metro-2” by Muscovites.

There are not state secrets, as all the evidence that proves the existence of these systems is quite public.

Caps of mining shafts and ventilation kiosks

There are caps of mining shafts and ventilation kiosks, located in different parts of the city. Moscow subway lines were constructed using the “deep bore” method, when a shaft about 20 feet in diameter and 200 feet to 230 feet deep is dug to reach the level where actual line construction starts. Later, the shaft is used both to transport mining machines down to the mining level, and to remove the earth.

After the construction is completed, the shaft closes, and when it’s open, it means that works are under way.

In the 1970s, one such shafts was located near Red Square, inside the building of Gostinyi dvor, and could be seen on panoramic photos of the Kremlin.

Today, another shaft can be seen near Kitay-gorod subway station, although it’s clear that civil subway construction here had stopped decades ago.

There are also a few active shafts in suburbs and outside city borders, where subways doesn’t exist.

The shabby, almost abandoned looks of shafts and ventilation kiosks contribute to their secrecy; meanwhile, they are duly guarded and impossible to infiltrate.

Inside the Moscow subway

Evidence can also be seen inside the Moscow subway.

1. There are blocked stairways and gates leading to “nowhere” in some of the stations
2. The famous dead-end line, that can be seen to the left of the train going from Sportivnaya station to Universitet stations. The line, as amateur explorers report, ends near a massive gate, which is believed to be one of the entrances to Metro-2.

An inside source told RBTH that each of the officers with access to Metro-2 is allowed only into one part of the system. None of them know how many clearance levels there are, so nobody sees the whole picture and possesses the whole plan, making the declassification of the whole installation virtually impossible.