Construction of a metro system in Kharkiv became evident in 1967, when the Soviet Council of Ministers approved the construction of the system's first line, then referred to as the Sverdlovsko–Zavodska line (). Subsequently, construction on the line began on July 15, 1968 near where the Pivdennyi Vokzal station is located. On August 23, 1968, a date symbolic of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kharkiv from Nazi German occupation, tunnel construction began near the Radianska station (now Maidan Konstytutsii station).