Unlike Kitay-gorod which was purpose-built as a cross-platform interchange station, Tretyakovskaya operated as a normal station before the connection with Kalininskaya Line in 1986. At that time a second hall was opened forming a cross-platform interchange. The two halls are joined by a passage located midway along their length and also by the shared vestibule, which opens onto Klimentovsky Lane.
The southern hall of Tretyakovskaya opened on 3 January 1971. Designed by V. Polikarpova and A. Marova, it has block pylons faced with white Koyelga marble and joined by a continuous marble cornice. Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line trains stopped at both platforms of this hall until 1986, when the new northern hall opened. Currently the southern hall is served by northbound trains of both lines, terminating at Medvedkovo and Novokosino.[1]
The northern hall, served by southbound trains terminating at Tretyakovskaya and Novoyasenevskaya, was designed by R. Pogrebnoy and V. Filippov. It features curved white marble separated by translucent panels which conceal fluorescent light fixtures. The walls are faced with red marble and decorated with a series of plaques by Alexander Bourganov depicting 16 great Russian painters, whose works the Tretyakov Gallery contains.
Cross-platform design
Each hall serves one of two routes of both line 6 and line 8, allowing quicker interchanging.