Metro 2 – Tales of Moscow’s underground

Moscow’s vast metro is shrouded in urban legends and conspiracy theories. One suggests that the circle line was a happy accident that arose when Stalin put his coffee cup on the mass transit system’s plans. 

The cup stained, and on consideration the engineers thought a circle line would be a smart addition. Apparently there are huge radioactive rats that live in the metro tunnels too. One of the biggest legends, however, is that deep underneath the metro system that millions of Moscovites use each day is another metro system, even further down. 

Metro 2, as it is referred to, is said to be bigger than the other metro system and connects the Kremlin to the KGB headquarters to Moscow State University, to the government airport, as well as towns outside of Moscow.

Source: https://theculturetrip.com/

Why Verebinsky Bypass is also called the Tsar’s Finger

Some say the Verebinsky Bypass – the seemingly pointless, semi-circular detour on the otherwise straight train line between St. Petersburg and Moscow – can literally be traced back to Tsar Nicholas the First. Keeping in line with European development, the tsar decided to lay down train track to connect his nation’s first and second cities in the mid-1800s. 

Engineers on the project argued over the best route, and Nicholas the First grew frustrated at them. Apparently he seized the map and drew a straight line between the two cities and declared that that was where the tracks were to be laid. 

In autocratic imperial Russia, tsar’s word is law, and so the engineers went about building a railway path exactly how the tsar drew it: in a straight line, except for the little bump where the tsar had drawn over the tip of his finger in haste. Because of this, the bypass’s nickname is the Tsar’s Finger. In 2001 the kink was removed (150 years later).

Source: https://theculturetrip.com/