New Athos Cave Railway
{{Short description|Underground electric railroad in New Athos, Abkhazia}}
{{Infobox rail line
| box_width =
| name = New Athos Cave Railway
| color =
| logo =
| logo_width =
| image = Ep-563.jpg
| image_width = 270px
| caption = New Athos subway train, built in Riga.
| type = Metro
| system =
| status =
| locale = New Athos
- {{flag|Abkhazia}} de facto
- {{flag|Georgia}} de jure
| start = Entrance gate
| end = Hall Anakopea
| stations = 3{{cite web| url=http://metro-novyafon.narod.ru/sys-e.htm| title=New Athos Cave Railway| website=metro-novyafon.narod.ru}}
| routes =
| daily_ridership =
| open = 4 July 1975
| close =
| reopen =
| owner = New Athos Cave
| operator =
| character =
| depot =
| stock = 3 trains
| linelength = {{convert|1.291|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| tracklength =
| tracks = Single track
| gauge = {{RailGauge|914mm|lk=on}}
| minradius =
| maxincline =
| racksystem =
| speed = {{convert|30|km/h|abbr=on}}
| elevation =
| map = 250px
| map_name = Cave Railway and the two national railway stations within the town: New Athos and Psyrtscha
| map_state = collapsed
}}
New Athos Cave Railway ({{langx|ab|Афон Ҿыц аҳаҧытә метро}}; Georgian: ახალი ათონის მღვიმური რკინიგზა, {{langx|ru|Новоафонская пещерная железная дорога}}), also known as New Athos Subway, is an underground electric railroad serving the New Athos Cave, in the town of New Athos, Abkhazia.{{Abkhazia-note}}
Route
The line is a single track and electrified narrow gauge railway with a third rail. Opened in 1975, it has a length of {{convert|1.3|km}} and three stations. It starts at the entrance of the caves, nearby Psyrtscha station of the Abkhazian railway. From the Entrance Gate station, it reaches two cave halls: Apsny Hall (or Abkhazia) and Anakopea Hall. Apsny station serves to lead the tourists at the beginnings of the show cave, and Anakopea to bring them back to the entrance gate, at the end of the tour. The line counts a depot just before Entrance station, and a service tunnel between it and Apsny.{{cite web|url=https://poisk-tura.com/dostoprimechatelnosti/abhaziya/novoafonskaya-peshhernaya-zheleznaya-doroga.html|title=New Athos Cave Railway|publisher=poisk-tura.com|language=ru|accessdate=2020-04-19}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!width="150px"| Station !Georgian name ! width="120px" | Russian name !width="30px"| km !width="200px"| Notes |
| Entrance Gate
|შესასვლელი ჭიშკარი (shesasvleli tchishkari) | Входные Ворота | 0.00
| 16px Link to Abkhazian railway at the nearby station of Psyrtscha |
| Hall Apsny
|აფხაზეთი (ap'khazet'i) | Зал Апсны | 1.00
| {{coord|43.09959|40.81114}} |
| Hall Anakopia
|თბილისი (t'bilisi) | Зал Анакопия | 1.29
| {{coord|43.10184|40.81129}} |
Rolling stock
The railway has three power-concentrated battery electric multiple units built by the Railroad Machinery Plants of Riga in Latvia, including two Ep «Tourist» trains and the newly built Ep-563 train, and also the auxiliary mining battery-electric locomotive ARP8 which is used in case of malfunction of EMU's motor car. Two Ep trains were built in 1975 and later both of them were modernized in Moscow in 2005 and 2009. In 2013, due to the wear of these trains, the railway management ordered a new train in Riga, which was built the next year. Since 2014 this has been the only train in use. The first Ep train is based at Anakopia station for doubling the Ep 563 train in case of malfunction. Another Ep train is based at the depot.{{cite web| url=https://transphoto.org/list.php?did=2304| title=New Athos Metro| website=transphoto.ru |accessdate=2020-04-19}} Each train consists of 6 cars, including 1 power car with driver's cab, motors and power equipment and 5 trailer cars for passengers (4 intermediate cars and 1 observation car in the end).{{cite web|url=https://spoki.lv/automoto/Unikalitate-it-visa-jeb/719930|title=Unikalitāte it visā jeb elektrovilciens Turist|publisher=Spoki|language=lv|accessdate=2020-04-19}} Both models run either on a third rail with 300 V DC or batteries with 240 V DC being used for short unelectrified sections at switches without a third rail, and also at passenger stations where the third rail has no voltage for safety reasons.{{cite web|url=https://telegraf.bb.lv/vse-novosti/item/9158371-riga-postroila-poezd-dlya-abkhazii|title=Riga built a train for Abkhazia (video)|publisher=Telegraf.bb.lv|language=ru|accessdate=2020-04-19}}
Gallery
{{Gallery
|title=
|width=230 | height=160 |align=center |mode="packed"
|footer=
|File:New Athos cave (3337824547).jpg|Ep train at Entrance station
|File:Wikiexpedition to Abhazia 76.JPG|Ep train at Anakopia station
|File:NovoAfonsky train.jpg|Ep train interior, 2006
|File:Ep-563 interior 1.jpg|Ep-563 train interior, 2014
|File:Прибытие поезда на конечную станцию Пасны.JPG|Ep train arriving at Anakopea station
}}
See also
Notes
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|New Athos Cave Railway}}
- {{cite web|title = Новый Афон – метрополитен в пещере (New Athos – a subway in a cave)| url = http://www.metro-novyafon.narod.ru/ | accessdate = 11 July 2006}}
Category:Rail transport in Abkhazia
Category:Rapid transit in Georgia (country)
Category:Underground rapid transit in Georgia (country)