Yekaterinburg, formerly called Sverdlovsk, was always known as the informal capital of the Urals, a natural divide between Europe and Asia, between European Russia and Siberia.

However, then-president Boris Yeltsin diverted state funds to complete its construction and by 1995 the Metro was doubled in length.

The Metro is a typical Soviet design, which when completed will form a triangle from three lines intersecting in the city centre.

Like all ex-Soviet Metros, the stations are elaborately decorated, although economic hardships prevented the full original designs from being implemented.

Most trains are of types 81-717.5/714.5, built by MMZ (Metrovagonmash) and LVZ (Factory of Egorov in Saint Petersburg) during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Station "Tatishchyevskaya" and "Ploshchad Kommunarov" will be near Central Stadium, which hosted the FIFA World Cup 2018 matches.