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James May Hits Out At Volvo For “Ruining His Life For The Third Time” After Recent Shocking Announcement

Former Top Gear presenter James May has humorously declared that Volvo has “ruined his life” after the car manufacturer decided to stop making estate and saloon models in the UK and focus solely on SUVs. According to Volvo, the decision to drop the S60, V60, and V90 models was motivated by low demand levels. May, along with many others from the motoring community, took to Twitter to express his exaggerated dismay, tweeting:

“Volvo has announced that, from now on, it will only make SUVs. So my assumption of an agreeable Volvo saloon in retirement has been snatched from me.”

Volvo responded to May’s hyperbolic remark with a light-hearted rebuttal:

“Hi James – we’re so sorry to have ruined your life (again). To clarify, we’re still making saloon and estate cars. This is purely a sales decision in the UK market, where demand for SUVs is especially strong.”

May extended the comedic banter, stating Volvo “ruined his life for the third time by publicly fact-shaming” him.

Volvo ruins my life for the third time by publicly fact-shaming me. But I should have included ‘for the UK’ for absolutely clarity. They are only spoiling everything for British people. Foreigners can still buy proper Volvos, and should. https://t.co/B2IfgnJVdS — James May (@MrJamesMay) August 3, 2023

According to Volvo, the decision to solely produce SUVs in the UK is part of a broader strategy to transition towards electric vehicles. The company has cited strong interest in their electric model range, and the UK market will soon see the launch of the electric EX30 and EX90 Flagship models. As Volvo stated:

“We continue to rapidly transform our product offer, which means not only moving towards full electrification but also shifting to new platforms and technologies across all our cars. We will naturally need to evolve and consolidate our line-up as we prioritise fully electric cars and make this technological transition. As a result, we have removed further models from the UK line-up.”

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The grand tour is done: it’s time to let go.

Well, this feels familiar. Time is up for Clarkson, Hammond and May and their world-famous car show, but in their stead the show they essentially created looks like it’s going to carry on regardless , with a whisper of new presenters and perhaps an unknown, uncertain or just plain unspeakable change to the format. This really is happening again, leaving producers to decide whether to walk the tightrope that the three genre-defining presenters will again leave behind.

It’s about nine years since the whole mess that ended Top Gear as we knew it. The thing is, when one of your lead presenters punches a producer over a minor row about hospitality, there’s not really a lot of room to move on and/or forget about it. It’s always going to be game over, and fracas-gate proved an inescapable gravity well for the show and its makers.

First, a quick recap. Director Andy Wilman left the show to follow his good buddy Clarkson, as did script editor Richard Porter, no doubt a bunch of other key people from behind the scenes and, of course, the other two-thirds of the first truly globally famous car show presenting trio. It was a new dawn for the three old dogs attempting to learn some same-but-different tricks with complete editorial freedom, except that they couldn’t nick any of the stuff the BBC still owned the rights to, like the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment.

Anyway, it went well enough. The Grand Tour itself was good, if not especially original, and it found a way to sustain itself even if one or two spin-off ventures online never really did. There were warning signs, in the way that the online forums backed by the GT presenters kinda flopped, that the support was there but it wasn’t at the exponential levels it had been maybe six or seven years prior.

The success of pre-punch Top Gear was a rod for the Grand Tour’s back. It made it nigh-on impossible to fashion the Grand Tour into something better, because, despite having left the BBC to pursue greater freedom, the latter show always seemed to be missing some of the studio-based stuff Top Gear always did so well. The presenters carried it and made the on-screen stuff work, if at times only just, by sheer brute force of charisma and chemistry. Which is almost certainly why the studio stuff was eventually binned altogether in favour of on-location specials.

As the BBC found out, you can’t just replace these guys. Nor can you feed them blended vegetables and rusks and expect them to regain any of their youth, and in recent episodes the old energy does seem to be lacking. It’s definitely time for them to stop. There are two options for the producers, then: drop the show like a mouldy potato or get new blood in, and it looks like the (new) producers want to go for option B. How could that look? In short, really, really bad, if they don’t learn from past mistakes. Pick the wrong presenters and it’ll flop harder than your fat uncle in a Majorcan swimming pool.

Let’s discuss personnel. What the BBC did, in a fit of indecision after attempting to blend six main presenters into one woeful trial series (remember Eddie Jordan?), was settle on three wholly different people who just didn’t gel. At all. The plan didn’t work and, if it’s true that Studio Lambert is taking charge of the next iteration of the Grand Tour, they’ll want to learn from what became a sting so hard the BBC can probably still feel it, and make sure they bring in three – it’s the only number that works for this kind of show – leads who already have that chemistry. That’s surely lesson number one.

Second-up to bat, amongst the easy ways to drop the ball here, is the nightmarish scenario of asking the new faces to just copy what’s gone before in the hands of some of the world’s most experienced car show-based entertainers. Better that they get their own twist on the show to remove those tough comparisons. It’s time to think of new ways to get bums on seats in homes around the world; owners tuning in for the next instalment of the Grand Tour version 2.0. Which neatly brings us to the third and possibly biggest issue the show and its makers face. Are there actually any new ways to ‘do’ cars on big-budget TV that appeal to many millions of ordinary people per episode?

Clarkson, Hammond and May have driven on almost every continent, gone north, south, east, west, across areas that were recently war zones, up snowy mountains, across deserts, through jungles, the outback, visited many of the most spectacular places on earth that you can reach in a car; hell, they’ve even taken pick-ups to the North Pole and driven through the radioactive Chernobyl exclusion zone. The highest roads, the twistiest roads, the most dangerous roads, the best roads, in supercars, superminis, off-roaders, boats, trucks, motorbikes… yes, even mobility scooters. it was a remarkable and wonderful journey. They even managed to convince the likes of Will Smith, Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise – Tom sodding Cruise! – to come and drive a Kia Cee’d.

There are loads of car-related YouTube channels out there that we know and love, right? That doesn’t mean they’d make popular or effective TV shows, or whether the ideas would even transfer across. The glory of YouTube is in small-scale silliness and easy recovery from an episode that doesn’t do so well, but TV is a big and unforgiving beast. YouTube content works as it is. On the other hand, the minefield quest to find something genuinely new and effective to put into the Grand Tour has to succeed this time, or else the whole concept of the TV car show as we know it will probably need to be shelved – potentially for a very long time. With an Atlantic Ocean’s worth of water already having passed under this bridge, maybe a rest really is the best thing for it.

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Jeremy Clarkson forced to reconsider Volvo’s formerly boring image by V90 Cross Country

Swede disposition.

Fresh from his moving meditation on old age and mortality last week, Jeremy Clarkson has ticked another box on his OAP checklist alongside a newfound interest in gardening and birdwatching — he has become really quite taken with a Volvo estate.

Writing in his regular column in The Sunday Times Magazine, the Grand Tour presenter and Clarkson’s Farm star this week reviewed the Volvo V90 Cross Country, the raised all-wheel-drive version of Volvo’s V90 estate, and came away thoroughly impressed.

The Volvo first appeared on Jeremy’s radar during a recent Grand Tour filming expedition to the Arctic Circle. The production team hired a fleet of new Volvos that made a pleasant change, Clarkson said, from the off-roaders the team had previously hired on other shoots, which were unreliable and “held together with bailer twine”.

One evening on the shoot, Clarkson’s colleague Richard Hammond announced that not only did he think the current Volvo V90 Cross Country looked good, but that it was exactly the kind of car he needed and that he may buy one.

Clarkson and Hammond’s other colleague, James May, concurred with Hammond.

“Good idea,” he said. “Having a Volvo is like going to the dentist. It’s something you’ve got to get out of the way, so you might as well do it now.”

Despite being the former owner of three Volvo XC90 SUVs, a car he praised extensively for its practicality as a family load-lugger, Jeremy still had some qualms about the V90 on account of Volvo’s once-dowdy image.

“People my age will remember a time when Volvos were bought by bores and antique dealers. My dad had one — a 265 GLE — for reasons that were entirely unclear to me, and we called it Claudia after my mother’s portly aunt. I refused point-blank to get in it, ever,” he said.

He recalled too his sister’s Volvo 345, “a Dutch-made hatchback powered by some rubber bands”: “even now, when I think about that, I feel pale and frightened.”

Despite Volvo’s PR onslaught in the 1990s with the launch of the “road rocket” 850 T5 and its subsequent touring car racing campaign “people with an interest in fashion and drinking and life and sport and having fun continued to buy Audis and BMWs instead,” said Jeremy, who also lately described a Volvo as being a perfect OAP accessory alongside sprouting nose and ear hair, a jumper full of holes and a tartan shopping trolley. His time spent with the “completely faultless” V90 Cross Country though, has, it seems, made him reconsider his opinion.

Driving the 2l petrol version rather than the plug-in hybrid, Clarkson found the powertrain, while not hugely remarkable, to be an economical, refined and reasonably powerful affair, accelerating the V90 from 0-60mph in 7.1 seconds.

What really impressed him though was the quietness, comfort and common sense with “knobs you can adjust while wearing gloves, sensible phone charging and a London taxi turning circle.”

As for the Volvo’s raised ride height and all-wheel-drive system, he said that while the V90 was “no Range Rover,” it can handle farm tracks and gymkhana car parks.

He also said that in recent years, Volvo’s image has changed and that telling people you have bought a Volvo is no longer tantamount to “telling them that your penis has stopped working.”

“I was talking to one of the kids who works on my farm show last week,” he said. “He’s young. Lives in a super-cool part of London. Goes to all the right places. Eats all the right gluten-free food. And drives a Volvo XC40. He’s not alone.”

“If you check out your local supermarket car park, you’ll notice that all the badly parked cars, driven by elderly buffoons, are Beemers and Audis. The well-parked cars are all Volvos and they’re all driven by hot blondes and young men in tech.”

Volvo, according to Jeremy, has “become the coolest car brand of them all,” in stark contrast to its previously worthy but dull image.

“So you can have a V90 Cross Country,” he concluded. “And you should.”

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The Grand Tour Has Been Cancelled Because It's Too Expensive

Combined with the trio's salaries, the production and insurance costs are way too high.

Last month we heard a rumor that The Grand Tour will not be renewed for a fourth season on Amazon Prime. The likely reason is the show's high production costs coupled with the multi-million dollars salaries paid to hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Today, however, Amazon Prime has apparently made its final decision: season three will be the show's final season, assuming another network and/or streaming service doesn't pick it up.

Despite more positive reviews for its second season, The Grand Tour's first season was not quite everything audiences hoped it would be, namely The American test driver and Celebrity Brain Crash. Both were dropped for season two, which, not surprisingly, was better received than season one . Clarkson, the also newly minted host of "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" in the UK, is obviously devastated by the news. "For the life of me, I cannot figure out where things went wrong. I blame May, who demanded such a high salary in the first place. No clue why he needs to buy more shirts with patterns worse than 1970s-era wall paper," he wrote on Twitter.

As for Hammond, he's simply become too accident-prone, especially after his near fatal crash in the Rimac Concept_One last year. "Those insurance buggers raised his premiums. Again. I really can't believe this is happening. It's like fake news or something," Clarkson added. Amazon Prime, so far, has refused to comment. That's not entirely unexpected considering the decision to give the show the axe was made in the early morning hours of Easter Sunday, which also happens to be April 1st.

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Tour Sweden's World of Volvo before It Opens

The old Volvo museum closed its doors in December 2023, but the new World of Volvo location is a Swedish experience like never before.

• The World of Volvo is situated near Volvo Group headquarters and only 14 miles from the Gothenburg airport.
• We got a behind-the-scenes look ahead of its grand opening on April 14.

BMW Welt, a stone toss away from the company's HQ in Munich Germany, has Double Cones. The Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen has a 911 kebab—or, as they call it, "Porscheplatz"—out front. And now, in the heart of downtown Gothenburg, Sweden, there are three giant tree trunks—the arms and legs of Volvo's new museum, exhibit, delivery program, meeting place, and eatery—World of Volvo.

Volvo invited us to explore the new facility ahead of its grand opening on April 14, which by no accident is the very day 97 years ago that the Swedish automaker's first vehicle, the four-door ÖV4, left its assembly line. The nearly 240,000-square-foot chunk of Gothenburg was designed by the Danish architecture group Henning Larson . It stands 14 miles from the Gothenburg-Landvetter airport and just 11 miles east of Torslanda, the home of Volvo Group headquarters and its oldest plant.

The space is Swedish beautiful. Its lack of extravagant shiny metals or spaceship style makes it feel real, welcoming, and warm. We overheard more than just a few fellow media guests compliment the spruce and pine fragrance that acts as a natural canopy over the structure's smooth concrete floors. The top floor, home to several rentable conference halls and classrooms, conceals the nearby highway thanks to the tilted roof below it. It took four years to design and construct, using some 2800 tons of lumber, and a few leftover lamp bulbs from the SAAB gearbox building that once occupied a portion of its space.

World of Volvo is five stories tall, and while its entrance honors Sweden's " Allemansrätten ," or "everyman's right to roam," with free admission, its grandiose event space, colorful and interactive exhibits, and restaurant run by Michelin-star chef Stefan Karlsson each require a handful of Swedish krona.

Its debut exhibit is a balance of Volvo's history, its pledge to safety, and future products. There are distracted-driving simulations, VR goggles, and an area that lets you scoop rubber balls out of a pit with a mini Volvo excavator. One clever installation shows the role speed plays in a car accident, using a stack of wooden chairs. It's an interesting way to see crashing without a seatbelt at 15 km/h (9 mph) versus crashing at 30 km/h (19 mph). The lesson? Not wearing a seatbelt is about as smart as falling headfirst from a stack of eight chairs.

Of course, there is no shortage of Volvo cars, concepts, trucks, and technology featured here. The Volvo Experimental Safety Car (VESC) is impossible to overlook. This concept, which originally debuted at the Geneva auto show in 1972, was a test bed for all types of innovative safety equipment: front and rear airbags, concealed headrests that would deploy during a crash, a steering wheel that would pull away from the driver during a collision, and a 6.5-mm F/1.8 rear-facing camera that would feed video to a CRT screen in the dash.

In another room, one of the White Buses sat parked. Painted white, with red crosses on the roof to avoid being bombed by allies during their attempt to ferry more than 15,000 prisoners to Sweden, these buses served a heroic purpose toward the end of World War II. The display is surrounded by literature about the nurses, drivers, and soldiers who carried such a dangerous undertaking.

The Volvo YCC was on display. We asked if we could take it home, but were told no. The YCC (Your Concept Car) originally debuted at the 2004 Geneva auto show and was created by an all-female crew for women. It had a special compartment to store a purse, a headrest designed to comfortably accommodate a ponytail, and washable seats. The team also gave the YCC gullwing doors and the special project would go on to win many awards for its design and effort.

There are other vehicles on display, such as tractors, boats, logging trucks, and semi-trucks. The white F88 from the 1970s wears its significance across the top of its cab. Globetrotter was the top trim level of Volvo trucks, and the moniker is still used today on its trucks specifically designed for long travel. That takes you back to a time when refrigerators, kitchens, and spacious cabs were inspired by companies building trucks in America.

The FH, Volvo's biggest-selling truck ever, is on display behind the F88. It was the first to be built, in 1993. This FH12 was just the start to the Volvo trucks sold today, which are now offered with a range of electric, gasoline, and diesel powertrains. Exhibits big and small enter the space via a massive freight elevator just outside the building that can carry up to 48,500 pounds of Volvo history. Which is more ice wine than we're able to drink in a single visit.

The World of Volvo building will become home to its Overseas Delivery service, making its location relative to the airport and assembly plant so crucial. The site, which is the result of a collaborative effort between Volvo Cars and Volvo Group, is intended to be the home of future product reveals, TED talks, and—we hope— Car and Driver editors, because we so desperately want to play with those excavators again.

Tickets are available at the World of Volvo website or can be purchased at check-in. Choose an annual pass to get a small discount for future events while enjoying unlimited visits throughout the year.

Yes, he's still working on the 1986 Nissan 300ZX Turbo project car he started in high school, and no, it’s not for sale yet. Austin Irwin was born and raised in Michigan, and, despite getting shelled by hockey pucks during a not-so-successful goaltending career through high school and college, still has all of his teeth. He loves cars from the 1980s and Bleu, his Great Pyrenees, and is an active member of the Buffalo Wild Wings community. When Austin isn’t working on his own cars, he’s likely on the side of the highway helping someone else fix theirs.

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Field announced for the 2024 Volvo China Open

Excitement builds as the 2024 Volvo China Open makes its highly anticipated return to the DP World Tour schedule. China’s premier open golf tournament is set to unfold from May 2-5 at the pristine Hidden Grace Golf Club in Shenzhen.

After a five-year hiatus from the DP World Tour, the 29th edition of the Volvo China Open has drawn a formidable international field, captivating golf enthusiasts from across China and around the globe. Boasting an impressive total prize fund of $2.25 million, the event guarantees high stakes and thrilling competition.

Organized by the China Golf Association and co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the China Tour, the 2024 Volvo China Open will showcase a diverse field of accomplished and rising stars from around the world of golf. Among them are Jordan Smith, Yannik Paul, and Zander Lombard, alongside defending champion Sarit Suwannarut. Notably, previous Volvo China Open champions Nicolas Colsaerts (2011), Alexander Levy (2014, 2017), Ashun Wu (2015), Haotong Li (2016), Huilin Zhang (2020), and Zhang Jin (2021) will also tee it up in this year’s tournament. This blend of international heavy hitters and homegrown heroes promises a riveting display of talent and competition, sure to captivate the thousands of fans expected to attend.

England’s Jordan Smith has a total of seven professional victories to his credit including two wins on the DP World Tour. His last campaign at Hidden Grace Golf Club in 2019 saw him finish tied for fifth.

Smith expresses his anticipation for the Volvo China Open, stating, “I haven’t played in Shenzhen since 2019 and I like the course and I think it suits my game. I’ve had good results there in the past and so it’s been on my schedule for a while.”

He also shares his excitement about reconnecting with Chinese fans, noting, “Golf is such a massive sport there and I am looking forward to seeing thousands of passionate fans, who have a great knowledge and respect for the game.”

“I’m hoping we can put on a good show,” Smith added.

Also returning to Hidden Grace Golf Club is the winner of the 2023 Volvo China Open and defending champion, Sarit Suwannarut. The 26-year-old Thai golfer secured victory last year with impressive scores of 65 and 64 in the third and fourth rounds, marking his second win on the Asian Tour following his first-place finish at the Indonesian Masters in 2022.

Suwannarut credited his success last year to his mindset, emphasizing, “I felt like I knew what to do in tough situations, which combined with both consistent hitting and putting.”

Reflecting on his experience, Suwannarut feels confident about navigating the course but is equally enthusiastic about competing on the DP World Tour this year. He stated, “I’ll be focusing on the process and what I can control and hopefully it pays off. I’m looking forward to winning and playing alongside the top players in the world.”

Yannik Paul of Germany is set to make his debut appearance at the China Volvo Open. In 2022 he claimed his first European Tour victory and this season is building on strong performances including a fourth place finish at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in January.

Expressing his anticipation for the tournament and the course, Paul shares, “I haven’t been to China before, but my caddy Oliver has previously caddied at the course in Shenzhen. He spoke highly of the event and emphasized how impressed he was with the course conditions during the last edition.”

“I hope a lot of local fans will come out to support us and hopefully watch some great golf. I’ll do my best to be in the mix come Sunday afternoon," said Paul.

Zander Lombard, a DP World Tour favorite from South Africa, is eager to make his mark on the course. The 29-year-old golfer has enjoyed a strong start to the season, clinching a second-place finish at the Bahrain Championship in February.

Though still in pursuit of his first DP World Tour victory, Lombard arrives at the tournament feeling prepared and rejuvenated. “I'm super excited to see the golf course and the challenges that it has in store for us. It fits great into my season, as I have had a few weeks off and we'll be in Asia for a couple of weeks - it is a really nice way to start off the spring stretch,” he stated.

He acknowledges the significance of the tournament's return to the European Tour, stating, “The DP World Tour is really looking forward to getting back to China to compete in the Volvo China Open, and it is a great opportunity for locals, of all ages, to get out and support some of the world's best golfers and witness some fantastic golf shots!”

Certainly, Haotong Li is anticipated to be a local favorite in the tournament, given his victory in the 2016 Volvo China Open. With three DP World Tour victories, he is recognized as one of he is one of the leading names in Chinese golf. As he returns to compete once again, spectators will be eagerly following his performance to see if he can return to the top of the leaderboard.

The Volvo China Open is set to unfold at the prestigious Hidden Grace Golf Club in Shenzhen from May 2-5, 2024. Stay updated on all event developments by visiting the official Volvo China Open website, as well as its Facebook, Instagram, and X pages.

Don't miss your chance to experience the thrill of the Volvo China Open. Purchase your tickets now to join the excitement, where you'll find a diverse range of activities, delicious food and beverages, and exciting entertainment options for all ages. Whether you're a dedicated golfer or simply looking for a fun day out, there will be something for everyone to enjoy at the Volvo China Open.

Jin secures Volvo China Open place with victory in Qualifier

Beijing-based Jin Zihao claimed a one-stroke victory in the Volvo China Open qualifying event in Shenzhen after a solid round of 69 saw him qualify for his first ever start in a DP World Tour event.

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Moscow Metro

Introduction of moscow subway system (metro).

Nowadays the Moscow Metro has 12 lines, light subway and monorail. All stations are unique and beautiful in their own way. Unfortunately, in order to visit them all, you need to spend many days. I invite guests to visit the ones that have the greatest cultural and historical interest from my point of view. Among them are the Revolution Square, Arbatskaya, Kievskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line № 3); Kievskaya, Belarusskaya, Novoslobodskaya, Komsomolskaya (the Ring line number 5). Let us dwell a bit on each.

Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line

Subway station "revolution square".

Most recently - in the year 2008-2010 – the Eastern lobby was renovated. Because of the terrorist attacks in the Moscow subway that took place several hours before the planned opening of the East lobby after renovation, the solemn part of the event was canceled.

Subway station Arbatskaya

Subway Arbatskaya is located on the same subway line as the station "Revolution Square." It was founded in 1953. It received the name in honor of the Arbat Street. It has one ground lobby (Western). Initially, the lobby was in a separate building, but the new building of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense started, the lobby appeared to be in its atrium. The old exits were bricked up; a new entrance was built into the building of General Staff of the street Vozdvizhenka. There is a huge frame with a missing portrait in the ground lobby - until mid-1950 there was a portrait of Stalin. According to some reports, it survived, but closed with plaster.

The lobby was restored and partially reconstructed in 2007-2008.

The depth of the station is 41 meters.

Pylons are finished with red marble at the bottom, decorated with bouquets of flowers made from ceramics. The floor is laid out with gray granite. The walls lined with glazed ceramic tiles, white top and black bottom. The station hall is illuminated by massive bronze chandeliers in the form of rings.

Subway station Kievskaya

There are several subway stations "Kievskaya" in Moscow, located on different branches. This name is quite popular. It comes from the capital of Ukraine - one of Russia's nearest neighbors - the city of Kiev. The name is fully consistent with the idea of the subway station. The interior the station devoted to Soviet Ukraine and the reunification of Ukraine and Russia. The station is decorated with a large number of paintings .Twenty four murals depicting workers of Soviet Ukraine are placed on the arch above the pylons. The wall from the side of platform also contains frescos, mainly with images of fantastic plants. Pylons are decorated with light marble and additionally decorated with colorful ceramic cornice. The butt of the station has a large mosaic, depicting festivities to celebrate the 300 anniversary of the reunification of Ukraine and Russia.

Opened in 1953, this subway station for a long time was the final (1953-2003).

The station has one lobby, combined with the station ring line and located in the building of the Kievskaya railway station. The diameter of the central hall station is 9.5 m, the diameter of side one is 8.5 m. The depth of the station is 38 meters.

= Ring Line Subway =

It opened in 1954. The station received its name after the Kiev station, and locked the Ring line. During the construction of the station many projects were proposed, but the victory in the competition won the Kiev architects who made the construction of the station. It is the only station of the Ring Line which is not located in the Central Administrative District of Moscow.

The station has a pylon structure. Eighteen pylons are decorated with mosaic panels of glazes, decorated on the theme of Ukrainian history and friendship between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, which started in the mid-17 century.

On the front wall of the central hall of the station a large panel with molding in the form of flags and a mosaic portrait of Lenin in the center are located. There are lines of the Soviet national anthem around the portrait, and under the portrait - the words of Lenin. One of the ways out of the station was designed by French architects modeled on the Paris Subway in 2006.

At one of the mosaics – “The Struggle for Soviet power in Ukraine "- modern passengers observe a mobile phone and PDA in the hand of one of the guerrillas, and on his knees - a laptop. In fact, he uses a field telephone, which was really a heavy thing (guerrillas holds it in two hands), and thing that people see a laptop is the lid of a box with a telephone. However, these phones have begun to produce only in the second half of the 20-ies of XX century. We must assume that the mosaic depicts a foreign field telephone transmitter.

Subway station Belorusskaya

The founded of the station was in 1952. It received the name after the Belarusian railway station nearby. The station has two ground-based lobbies. The Western one goes to Tverskaya  Zastava. It is decorated with beautiful carvings. The Eastern one leads to Butyrskiy shaft and Forest Street. The Eastern lobby is known for its majolica panels.

The station Belorusskaya is located at a depth of 42.5 m below ground. The diameter of the central hall is 9.5 meters.

Pylons are faced with light marble. The walls lined with white ceramic tiles, the floor is covered with ceramic tiles, gray, white and red colors. Lamps placed on pylons, in the form of vases made of glass and marble. The theme of decoration is economy and culture of Belarus. Decorative pattern on the floor repeats the theme of traditional Belarusian embroidery. Decorations of the ceiling consist of stucco decorations and 12 mosaic panels depicting the life of the Belarusian people.

Subway station Novoslobodskaya

Built in 1952, Subway station Novoslobodskaya got its name from the eponymous street:  the station is located at the very beginning of it.

Novoslobodskaya is pylon station of deep foundation (its depth is 40 m) with three arches.

Exit to the street is through the ground lobby with column portico, located on Novoslobodskaya Street lined with gray marble. Pylons of the underground station are faced with marble from the Urals. Thirty two spectacularly illuminated stained-glasses, placed inside the pylon and bordered by steel and gilt brass are splendid decoration of the station. A remarkable mosaic "World Peace" is located at the end of the central hall. The picture depicts a happy mother with a baby in her arms; it was the face of Stalin at the picture: the child gave a hand to him. But in times of Khrushchev the face of the former leader of USSR was removed from the panel. The walls are lined with bright marble; floor is covered with white and black granite slabs, placed in a checkerboard pattern.

Subway station Komsomolskaya

The station was built in 1952 and named in honor of the Komsomolskaya Square, which is situated nearby.

This subway station is the station of the deep bedding. Its depth is 37 meters. The station has column and three- arched design. Cast iron decoration is used in the construction, monolithic slab used as a tray for a collapsible finishing. The length of the boarding hall is 190 meters; width of it is 10 meters. There are 68 octagonal columns at station.

The main theme of the interior of the station is the fighting of the Russian people for their independence. The ceiling is decorated with eight station mosaic mural made from glazes and precious stones. Six of them represent the Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky, Alexander Suvorov and Mikhail Kutuzov, the Soviet soldiers and officers at the walls of the Reichstag.

 Two other panels, depicting Stalin ("Victory Parade" and "Presentation of the Guards Banner"), were replaced after the dethronement of Stalin's personality cult in 1963. New panels depict Lenin's speech in front of the Red Guards and the Motherland on the background of the Kremlin's Spasskaya Tower.

The yellow ceiling is decorated with mosaic and moldings. The hall is illuminated by massive chandeliers hanging between the panels; platforms are illuminated with smaller chandeliers. The columns are decorated with marble capitals and trimmed with light marble, as well as the wall station. The floor is laid with pink granite. There is a bust of Lenin at the end of the hall. At the opposite end of the escalator is a large Florentine mosaic of the Order of Victory with red banners on the background. The ground lobby of the station is decorated with bas-reliefs.

In conclusion...

Each of the stations of the Moscow subway is attractive and interesting in its own way. Each has its own long and fascinating history and is beautifully decorated. The Moscow subway is a whole world, which can be talking about for hours. I suggest you short - no more than one hour and a half - and a fascinating journey through the world of the Moscow subway. The pleasure is guaranteed!

Sculpture Park "Art Muzeon"

Mausoleum and necropolis.

• Bombing in Moscow Metro On March 29, 2010, another tragic event happened in Moscow that shocked not only the citizens of the Russian Federation, but also many people from countries that oppose the threat of terrorism. In the early morning rush hour, two women bearing suicide weapons blasted themselves in the subway trains of the Moscow Metro.
• The Best Redesign of Moscow Metropolitan Map 2013 Russia's leading internet and graphic design agency has won an online vote for the best redesign of the Moscow Metro map. Art. Lebedev Studio is a design company in Russia, founded in 1995 by Artemy Lebedev. They redrew the Moscow Metro map for a second time in three years, with even cleaner graphics and a raft of new details and won more than 50% of the online vote.

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