The Tbilisi Metro () is a rapid transit system in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Opened on 11 January 1966, it was the fourth metro system in the former Soviet Union. Like other ex-Soviet metros, most of the stations are very deep and vividly decorated. At present the system consists of two lines, in total length, serving 23 stations. In 2017, the Metro transported 113.827 million passengers. The Metro is operated by the Tbilisi Transport Company, which began operation the same year as the Tbilisi Metro, in 1966. History Tbilisi (officially known as Tiflis until 1936), the capital of Georgia, was considered historically to be one of the most important cities of the Soviet Union, particularly because of its political position as being the most significant city in the Caucasus and the capital of the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic which lasted until 1936. The city grew quite rapidly during the 19th and 20th centuries, and apart from being a cultural and political centre, it was an important transport hub in Transcaucasia and an industrial centre as well. Features of the historically established development of Tbilisi, stretching for more than 25 km along the Mtkvari river, densely built-up city centre, and narrow steep streets in some parts of the city, impede the development of land transport. All this contributed to the need for a rapid transit Metro system. Especially considering its geographic characteristic - Tbilisi is considerably long, which undoubtedly would simplify the coverage of most parts of the city by the underground. Construction began in 1952. Tbilisi was one of the few cities in the former USSR where work on the Metro system started before the population reached one million people. A population of over a million people was one of the main requirements for Soviet cities to build a metro system. On 11 January 1966, the Tbilisi Metro was opened: it was the first and only Metro system in Georgia and the fourth one in the former Soviet Union (after Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Kyiv) when the first six stations were opened. Since then, the system has steadily grown to a two-line, 23-station network. Post Soviet Era During the 1990s, most of the Soviet-era station names were changed, although financial difficulties after the breakup of the Soviet Union hit the Metro particularly hard in its infrastructure, operations, and extensions. In the early-mid 1990s, the Tbilisi metro was usually not