[citation needed] Kryvyi Rih was chosen to test whether the construction of a full-scale metro system could be avoided by adopting a light rail design for a socialist city.

[citation needed] The city had a developed tram network, but like most urban centers, overcrowding and widespread congestion proved too much for the light rail to serve as the main transport arteries.

The Metrotram was intended to serve only an interim, albeit necessary, role, with provision for conversion into a full rapid transit system.

In Kryvyi Rih, the Metrotram route was built from scratch, with most of the section running along the surface, except in the very center of the city and wherever it was required.

[4] On 26 December 1986, the first 8 km (5.0 mi) long segment was opened with four stations, becoming the third underground rapid transit system in Ukraine, after Kyiv and Kharkiv metros.

Two depots serve the system: one is located near Maidan Pratsi station; the other one is situated in Tram Park in the southwestern edge of Metalurhiinyi District.