The three accidents, which occurred in one terrible 15-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday, were prominently reported in most of the national newspapers. Initial investigations blame the drivers in all three cases. Criminal charges are expected. Drivers responded Monday by launching a curious strike in which they have vowed to obey strictly all rules and safety regulations. This is causing delays.
Why all the hubbub over a couple of "bumps" between trains? Nobody was seriously hurt and service was disrupted for a few hours on a system that is, by comparison with other major cities, reliable, clean and safe.
The answer is that the Moscow Metropolitan of V.I. Lenin is more than way to get to and from work. In the communist era, it was an icon of socialist achievement on par with the space program. Though it no longer carries this torch, it is still loaded with political portents.
In the minds of many Muscovites, the fall of the Soviet Union has transformed the metro into a new kind of icon, not just of socialist failure, but of something far more disturbing: national failure.
The three accidents last week just underscored what everyone knows is happening yet is powerless to stop: The Moscow metro is fast becoming a just another overcrowded, commercial, dirty, unsafe form of public transportation.
Mayor Yury Luzhkov, aware that the poor state of the metro is giving him a political black eye, scheduled a personal appearance at Kievsky station on Wednesday.
It was not the first action by the mayor to try to halt the fall of the metro. In a Feb. 22 decree he wrote with uncharacteristic frankness:
"The low comfort level of the cars, rudeness of the metro workers have generated complaints from numerous passengers," and "the responsibility for efficiency is falling to the point where it is harming the equipment and efficient discipline."
These were harsh, hurtful words for the workers on the metro, many of whom still value their love of the system and reverence for its history more than the meager wages they receive. It is still impossible to talk to metro workers without hearing these passions.
In an interview last fall, Viktor Gromov, chief engineer and deputy director of the metro, bubbled typically with this enthusiasm.
"The cleanliness, the architecture, the materials" taught young people "respect for self-control and the labor of the metro workers," he said reverently. "People came into some stations as if into a temple."
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