Pripyat Bus Station

Pripyat Bus Station is situated just off the main road at the entrance to the city. The bus station was logically named ‘Pripyat’. Situated 150 kilometers from Kiev, the bus station was a major transport hub for the growing population of the city and local towns and villages.

Inside the station, there is a large route map on the wall, next to the ticket counters. The bus station was used as an important junction point on the way from Kiev to the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic. On the busiest day, two years before the disaster, 52 buses passed through the station on 14 different routes. The city itself was served by more than 167 urban buses.

The station was closed just after the accident happened. In fact only those who had a car could leave the city. Some people even tried to leave Pripyat by foot, but it was too dangerous because a huge level of radiation. The mass-evacuation took place a day later. The buses had to come from other parts of the country to evacuate all inhabitants of Pripyat. The queue for the buses was 25 kilometers long. In less than three hours the city was empty, and it will remain empty forever.