Subway stations over 40 years banned from photography

In the summer of 2018, Uzbekistan allowed for the first time to take free photos inside subway stations - described as the most luxurious in the world.

During the former Soviet Union, a city with a million inhabitants would have its own subway system. Planners now realize that the subway system that transports tens of thousands of people a day is the right thing to do.

In 1977, Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, became the seventh city in the former Soviet Union to have a subway system. The artists designed and recreated the history of Uzbekistan and the Soviet Union on the murals in train stations. Some stations have hanging lamps and use marble tiles in the style of European baths. Well-known travel consulting site Lonely Planet commented that this is one of the most beautiful subway systems in the world.

Alisher Navoi Station is named after a famous artist in Uzbekistan. Inside the station are blue arches and tiles, reminiscent of ancient temples and monasteries when the Silk Road passes through Uzbekistan. Alisher Navoi Station is one of the busiest stations in Tashkent, not only for passengers but also for tourists and locals to take photos.

When the Tashkent train system was built, a ban on taking photos in train stations was enacted because it also served as a shelter to avoid the atomic bomb.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Islam Karimov took power in Uzbekistan and continued to implement policies. Karimov's successor, Shavkat Mirizyoyev, reorganized many reforms, seeking to open the economy, attracting international investors and tourists. Recognizing the potential of the subway system as a tourist attraction, the government has removed the building from its list of military construction since mid-2018. It was then that Uzbekistan removed its ban on photography in Train station after more than 41 years.

Metro stations in Tashkent are designed and decorated with marble, granite, glass, ceramic and plaster. Each station has a theme and usually follows its name. For example, the Kossmonavtlar station (pictured) at the O’zbekiston line shows astronauts and praises the Soviet Space Program. At Pushkin Station, the design is dedicated to the life of the famous Russian poet.

Portrait of Yuri Gagarin, the first man to fly into space, painted on the wall at Kosmonavtlar station. Gagarin and early astronauts were honored heroes in the former Soviet Union. They symbolized the power and superiority of the former Soviet Union in the "race to space". The walls surrounding Yuri Gagarin's portrait are all other famous astronauts flying in a dark blue cosmic background.

The walls of Pakhtakor Station are decorated with large cotton-like mosaic patterns. The Soviets once called Uzbekistan a giant cotton basket when changing agriculture and providing up to 70% of cotton production for this federation.

The subway system still shows the imprint of the time and boldness of the former Soviet Union. Many famous electric trains such as 81-717 / 714 have been designed since the mid-1970s but are still used today. In 2013, 168 of the ships were painted blue and gradually Uzbekistan added new models to replace the old Soviet models.

Train tickets cost 1,200 som (about 0.13 USD). Uzbekistan keeps this price to ensure even low-income people ($ 56 / month) can move around the city by train. The subway system in Tashkent was increasingly developed when in 1984, the second train line was built, the third line continued to open in 2001, and is still expanding connecting the northern districts to the airport in the south. .