Answer: Kiev

The name itself belies where you’ll find them: subways, or subterranean transit ways, are located primarily underground, and it’s no surprise that the majority of subway stations are located deep beneath the cities they serve. How deep those stations are found, however, is a function of location and geography.

Cities like New York might be known for their iconic subway systems, but don’t head there if you want to experience the deepest subway station on Earth—the deepest station in the entirety of New York City’s sprawling subway system is only 180 feet below the surface, the 191st Street station on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line. The deepest station on London’s Metro system is a similar depth, only 192 feet below the surface, located in Hampstead, North London (it also has the distinction of being the northernmost station in the Edgware branch of the Northern line).

For the deepest station, you need to head to the Ukraine. There, in Kiev, you’ll find the Arsenalna station on the Sviatoshynsko-Brovarska (Red) Line, located 346 feet below the surface. Why so deep? You can blame it on geography. The station is located at the top of a steep valley beside the Dnieper River and the next station on the line is located down near the river itself. To avoid a subway line that descended with an uncomfortably roller-coaster-like angle, the planners opted to drop the Arsenalna station much deeper down in order to reduce the angle between it and the adjacent stations.

From the surface vestibule to the platform below is quite a trip in and of itself, as you would imagine. A ride on the two huge escalators that service the station takes around 5 minutes, so you’ll frequently see locals bounding down at an unsettlingly fast pace in a bid to catch the train and not spend as much time getting to it as they will on it.