Tashkent Metro
The Tashkent Metro is the rapid transit system serving the city of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. It was the seventh metro to be built in the former USSR, opening in 1977, and the first metro in Central Asia. Each station is designed around a particular theme, often reflected in the station name.
The Tashkent Metro consists of four lines, operating on of route and serving 50 stations. In 2024, the metro carried 270.3 million passengers, which corresponds to a daily average of approximately 741,000 passengers.
History
Planning for the Tashkent Metro started in 1968, two years after a major earthquake struck the city in 1966. Construction on the first line began in 1972 and it opened on 6 November 1977 with nine stations. This line was extended in 1980, and the second line was added in 1984. The most recent line is the Circle Line, the first section of which opened in 2020.A northern extension of the Yunusobod Line for 2 stations Turkiston and Yunusobod was completed and opened on 29 August 2020. The fourth Circle line is currently under construction, first 7 stations for the line have already been built in 2020.
Operations
The Tashkent Metro operates three regular lines and a circle line, which currently runs of route and serve 48 stations. The metro network employs more than 4,200 staff. In 2021, revenues from fares amount to 10.5 billion Uzbekistani sum a month.The depth of the metro's tunnels varies between. The strong construction of these three lines can resist earthquakes of a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. It sports a gauge and a third rail power supply. The average station distance is.
Lines
Tashkent Metro operates 4 lines:Chilonzor Line (red)
Construction on this line started in 1968, opened in 1977 between Olmazor and Amir Temur Khiyoboni including Novza depot and one metro bridge over Oqtepa channel between Novza and Milliy Bog' stations. It was extended to Buyuk Ipak Yoli in 1980. It is long with 17 stations.A extension of the Chilonzor Line south from Olmazor station to Quipchoq station in the Sergeli district of Tashkent was built in 3 years and inaugurated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on 26 December 2020.
The future planned 3 stations eastward extension from Buyuk Ipak Yoli to TTZ is under consideration.
Oʻzbekiston Line (blue)
The route of this line crosses the city diagonally from northwest to southeast via the Toshkent Railway station. It opened in 1984 and expanded between 1984 and 1991. It is long with 11 stations.Yunusobod Line (green)
Work is under way on this line to connect the northern districts to the airport in the south. The first section with 8 underground stations opened for regular service on 24 October 2001 between Ming O‘rik and Shahriston.Circle Line (gold)
Construction of new line started in October 2017. The project will be completed in 5 stages and developed and implemented jointly with specialists from Russia, Turkey and Germany. When completed, the Circle line will serve 35 stations and it will be long with an elevated above ground section of on overpasses and on the ground level.In February 2020, it was reported that construction of the first section of the Circle Line from Do'stlik to Qo'yliq stations was finished and that new rolling stock for the Circle Line was undergoing trials. On 30 August 2020, Circle line's first section was opened with seven stations and a length of. A five station extension of the line from Qoʻyliq to Quruvchilar opened 25 April 2023. A further two station extension was completed on 11 March, 2025.
Stations
Today, the Tashkent Metro has 48 stations that differ from each other. The architecture and décor of each station reflects its name. One peculiarity of the Tashkent metro is its rather shallow depth. Some stations have escalators, 7 stations belong to the tower type, 4 stations to the arch type and one station to the tower-individual type. Prominent architects and artists of Uzbekistan took part in designing the stations. Materials used for the interior décor include metal, glass, plastic, granite, marble, smalt, ceramics and alabaster. Each station contains original works of art, and is based on a particular theme. After the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991 many stations were renamed to remove references to Communism.Monthly tariffs
Daily or monthly tariffs and tariffs for a five day or seven day period, as well as for 3 month and 6 month and for a year are only available if you purchase an ATTO card, more information about atto cards is available atBus + Metro tariffs for a specific period, prices shown in Uzbekistani sum|UZS :
| period | 1 day | 5 days | 7 days | 10 days | 15 days | 20 days | 30 days | 90 days | 180 days | 1 year |
| ATTO CARD for general public | 8,500 | 36,000 | 46,000 | 73,000 | 110,000 | 147,000 | 221,000 | 604,000 | 1,123,000 | 2,073,000 |
| ATTO CARD for pupils | 4,250 | 18,000 | 23,000 | 36,500 | 55,000 | 73,500 | 110,500 | 302,000 | 561,500 | 1,036,500 |
| For elderly people | 4,250 | 18,000 | 23,000 | 36,500 | 55,000 | 73,500 | 110,500 | 302,000 | 561,500 | 1,036,500 |
| For students | 4,250 | 18,000 | 23,000 | 36,500 | 55,000 | 73,500 | 110,500 | 302,000 | 561,500 | 1,036,500 |
Ticketing
In 2020, an automated payment system based on NFC technology was introduced at all metro stations. Stationary validators were installed as well. A single transport card, which was initially used in test mode at the Bodomzor and Mustaqillik Maydoni metro stations, fully replaced the use of tokens in the Tashkent metro from 1 November 2020.As of today it is possible to pay for using metro in 3 main ways:
| type of payment | price | payment system//credit card or debit card type//ATTO card type | addition information |
| 3,000 UZS or USD$ 0.25 | - | No discounts at all | |
| 1,700 UZS or USD$ 0.13 | Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Oson,Uzum Bank,Payme, ClickUP, MyUzCard, PAYNET | ||
| 1,700 UZS or USD$ 0.13 | Blue,Yellow,Red and Green | No extra discounts for single trip | |
| List of accepted credit or debit cards: VISA UZCARD UNIONPAY MASTERCARD HUMO MIR | - some of the card systems offer discounts for journeys. |
The BLUE ATTO card can be recharged at the metro ticketing offices, UZPost offices and the virtual ATTO card can be opened in mobile application. There are 3 other types of preferential transport cards, which can be individually applied for school pupils, university students and elderly people at public services offices, which gives them an opportunity to buy monthly or daily or any type of available tariffs with a 50% discount.
One ride costs 3,000 soum when paid with cash, regardless of distance travelled or number of transfers. Fare enforcement takes place at the points of entry to the stations. Once a passenger has entered the Metro system, there are no further ticket checks; passengers can travel to any number of stations and transfers within the system freely except one stations joint between sergeli line's end station and Qipchoq station transfers, which adds extra 2,000 soums for a transfer if paid with cash or 1,700 soum or cheaper depending on the type of electronic payment;. Transfers to other public transport systems, such as bus, are not covered by the ticket, although there are some discounts or cashbacks presented by many mobile apps and electronic payment systems and credit or debit card systems such as VISA, MasterCARD or UZCARD or others for all the people.
| New tariffs offering some discounts for transfers from bus to bus or from bus to metro within the 1 hour period: |
| Only available when the payment is done whether by credit or debit cards or Apple Pay or Google Pay, or Samsung Pay or ATTO cards: |
Passenger regulations
Despite a wide range of artistic and architectural features in the metro, it was notably illegal to take pictures and/or video inside the metro until 31 May 2018, because they were considered military installations due to the system's secondary role as a nuclear bomb shelter. The government under the newly elected Shavkat Mirziyoyev, ruled that from 1 June 2018, taking photo and video is allowed within the system.Rolling stock
- Ezh3/Em-508T: 1977–1985.
- 81-717/714: 1980–present.
- 81-718/719: 2001–present.
- 81-717M: 2015–present.
- 81-765.5/766.5/767.5: 2020–present
In 2001, Tashkent metro has received newer trains of 81-718/719. There were plans to purchase trains of series 81-717.6/714.6 for the metro but that didn't happen. There was a decision to modernize the existing 81-717 trains in the Tashkent Carriage Repair Factory. The first modernised train appeared in 2015.
In 2019 new trains of type 81-765/766/767 were ordered for the opening of the Circle line, and with its opening they were given from Uzbekistan line to the Circle line. It is planned to purchase 45 trains of the newest type for the Circle line. If not, then Tashkent metro will receive trains of type 81-775/776/777 that are currently produced in Metrovagonmash.
In April 2021, Tashkent Metro signed a contract to purchase 10 new Russian-made trains from Metrovagonmash. The service life of metro cars and frames is 30 years. The windshield of the driver's cab will be equipped with an adjustable manual sunscreen, taking into account the peculiarities of the Tashkent metro; some of the Tashkent metro lines run on the ground.
Future extension plans
Besides building of Circle line around Tashkent metropolitan, Tashkent Metro is working on extension of the current metro lines to 10 more stations. By 2030, Tashkent Metro is planning to build 2 metro stations from the Beruniy station to Karakamysh district, 4 underground metro stations from the station Buyuk Ipak Yoli to TTZ neighborhood and 5-6 stations from the station Ming O‘rik to the Tashkent Janubiy railway station.In March 2021, Metro officials reported about second stage extension of the Circle line. This stage includes a section from the Kuylyuk market, through the Tashkent Ring Road to the capital's Yangihayot district, connecting Khanabad Street in the Zangiata district with Kipchak Street in the Sergeli district of Tashkent, including the "5-Bekat" station of the new Sergeli metro line. It is planned to build 9 stations on this stage with a total length of.
The Kuylyuk – Kipchak – Yangihayot section is expected to serve about 46 thousand passengers daily. Also, about 700 new jobs will be created.
Additionally it is planned to build another line of metro to the new district of New Tashkent, which is going to be more than 15 kilometers long and contain more than 6 stations at least if it is going to be built.
In March 2021, the Tashkent Metro carried up to 330,000 passengers a day on weekdays and 150,000 passengers on weekends. The goal is to increase the number of passengers to 1 million per day.