Why do empty ghost trains pass through tp Tbilisi Metro Stations without stopping?
Yesterday I was talking to a frightened person in the Canudos Bar who was quite confused. She asked me: “Tom, I was at Tbilisi Station Square yesterday and the train stopped without the doors opening, and then it just kept going. Why did that happen to me?”
It’s happened to most commuters in the Tbilisi Metro, and in today’s post we’re going to unravel this paranormally creepy mystery. Or at least pretend we can. After all, I’m not a ghost hunter, I’m just a guy with an online magazine and way too little free time.
Understanding the basics of a Tbilisi metro system
It may be just the time you need to catch a train, typically at rush hour in the morning or evening. Your train arrives, and you’re ready to get on, and then it passes without picking anyone up at the station. A really frustrating moment for most people, and you ask yourself: why did this actually happen? Are there dark forces at work here?
But of course it has to go deeper. We need to find out if this was intentional or if it’s a problem with the subway system. Did the Tbilisi driver just forget because he had too much ChaCha and hates people? The real question people don’t ask is: Where do the ghost trains of the Tbilisi metro go?
People see an empty train and are blind with anger as to why the driver doesn’t stop at the station and take them away. But they don’t think about the purpose of this train. What is the reason for its actions? Is the train secretly traveling directly to Moscow or importing weapons from NATO? Or maybe it makes a quick detour to the best Khinkali store in town, because even trains sometimes have the munchies?
Where do Metro Trains go to sleep?
To understand where the train goes, for what reason and for what purpose, we need to look at the basics of a metro system, for this I studied several semesters at universities with a focus on Tunnel Vision and Mind the Gap. As I mentioned before, yes, you heard me right. I have a doctorate in subway ology. My parents are so proud and don’t talk to me anymore.
Train systems have operating hours, of course, unless you’re the New York City subway and you’re running around the clock. Just like you, they have a time when they are awake, when they are on the move and active, and what do they do when they get tired and the day is over? They go to sleep, of course! Imagine how cute a sleeping train looks, with a little sleeping cap on its engine and a tiny teddy bear in its cab.
But people seem to forget what happens to the running of a city. Where do the trains sleep, and what happens when a metro system is closed or shut down? Well, that’s quite simple. Like any other vehicle, airplanes have a hangar and cars have a garage. Trains in Tbilisi have a depot where they are maintained when they are not in service.
So if the trains are empty and pass through your station without taking you, they will most likely go to the depot or start maintenance. It depends on the time of day. Just as people commute, trains usually leave the depot in the morning and enter the depot in the evening. Sometimes there are exceptions, but in most cities there are also depot movements in the late afternoon and late morning during off-peak hours or just before rush hour.
This means that more trains are added or removed depending on passenger volumes. And so, of course, they don’t bring the passengers back to the depot. It’s like an airplane not taking passengers to and from the hangar, but only when they’re ready to board. Fasten your seatbelts and grab a snack. We’re going on a journey through time, and I promise it will be at least half as exciting as “Back to the Future” – only without the DeLorean and with a lot more tracks.
Why do trains go through stations without stopping?
Okay, cool – so now we know that the trains are empty and go through the stations because they want to get back home. But why do they go through the stations, and why do they have to go through the whole network just to get back to the depot?
To understand this, we need to take a closer look at the Tbilisi Metro network and why depot traffic is as strange as it is. It’s time for a history lesson.
A brief history of the Tbilisi Metro
To understand why things are the way they are now, we need to learn a little history, and that begins in 1966 when the Tbilisi Metro first opened with six stations on a single section of track. This of course meant that there had to be a depot for these trains, and this was built in Vatsala Devi, which is right next to the t station. Coincidentally, this depot also stored the three-coach trains that were used on the first line.
- Spoiler alert: it wasn’t because the trains were having a midlife crisis and needed more space for their newfound hobbies.
The next expansion of the Tbilisi metro took place in 1967, just a year after it opened, leading to rapid growth of the city and the network itself. This of course meant more trains and another depot, but this new depot was not built until 1985. So let’s look at what happened before 1985 to find out why this depot had to be built in the first place.
The expansion of the Tbilisi Metro
In 1979, the first new line in the city was opened, a second line, the Saburtalo line, which ran from the station square to Delisi. This was to accommodate the growth of the city with the same three-car trains as on the first line. Overall, more trains had to be added to the network, which meant that the Vatsala Devii depot was overcrowded and plans for a new depot soon became necessary. It’s like an underground labyrinth for trains. I bet sometimes the trains get lost and accidentally end up in the canteen instead of on the right track. “Sorry, I actually wanted to go to platform 3, but the smell of fresh khachapuri was just too tempting!”
A second depot was to be built in the northern district of Gldani. This was the perfect location for the depot as there was empty land, a place to build an exclusive tunnel to the metro system, and the network was being extended to the north anyway. This would also lead to a better organization of the Tbilisi Metro, as there were now two depots and two lines. The first line was given the newer Gldani depot, while the Saburtalo line was operated exclusively via the Vatsala Devi depot.
The logistics of the depot transfers
Due to space constraints and the fact that the Saburtalo Line was completely underground, the Saburtalo alo Line depot and the Gldani depot were all located on the first line. So if you were a Saburtalo Line rider, your trains were parked on the first line. That means if you wanted to go to the Saburtalo Line, you had to go from the Vatsala Devi Depot to the first line and then take a secret little tunnel that leads from the first line to the Saburtalo Line.
That’s why you see the empty trains going back and forth in the evenings, afternoons and mornings. To get a train onto the main tracks, there is a transfer track from the siding of the depot to the main tracks, just like it works in any other shunting yard. Maybe they swap stories there about the strangest passengers or secretly plan a revolution against their human oppressors. Who knows, maybe that’s the real reason why trains sometimes disappear – they’re rehearsing the uprising!
To make sure you weren’t just taken for a ride with this text, we’ve provided an informative table so you can gain some real knowledge.
| Number of stations | 23 |
|---|---|
| Gauge width | 1524 mm (broad gauge) |
| Operator | Tbilisi Transport Company |
| Daily passengers (approx.) | 500,000 |
| Operating hours | 06:00 – 24:00 |
| Timing (rush hour) | Every 2.5 minutes |
| Timing (off-peak time) | Every 4-5 minutes |
| Type of train | Modernized Soviet wagons and newer models |
| Depots | 2 (Gldani and Nadzaladevi) |
| Special features | – Deepest station: Rustaveli (60 m underground) – Stations also serve as bunkers – Multilingual announcements (Georgian, English) |
| Expansion plans | Third line in planning (Rustaveli-Vazisubani) |
| Ticket system | Metromoney card (rechargeable) |
| Single fare | 1 GEL (approx. 0.30 €) |
HOW TO BECOME CONTRIBUTOR
Empty trains often pass through stations without stopping because they are either heading to or returning from the train depot. These depots are where trains are stored and maintained when not in service.
You are more likely to see empty trains passing through stations during off-peak hours, such as early mornings, late evenings, or during the mid-afternoon. These are times when train operators adjust the number of trains in service based on passenger demand.
In some metro systems, like the Tbilisi Metro, the layout of the tracks and the location of the depots necessitate that empty trains travel through a significant portion of the network to reach their destination. This is often due to historical reasons and the limitations of urban planning.
