Sergei Sobyanin on Moscow Metro growth in 2023

According to Sergei Sobyanin’s blog, Moscow will continue constructing new lines and metro stations.

Despite all hardships, a fair amount of work was completed in 2022: dozens of kilometers of tunnels were built, dozens of escalators mounted, and thousands of pieces of the most complex equipment enabled, which ensures stable and safe train rides.

“This will make 2023 a year of breakthrough changes in Moscow Metro. In total, we will launch 14 new stations, with nine of them being part of the Big Circle Line,” the Moscow Mayor adds.

The Big Circle Line (BCL) will become world’s biggest metro circle (31 stations and 70 kilometers of lines). It will improve the transport situation in city’s 34 districts with the population of 3.3 million people, including 1.2 million of those who live within a walking distance of the new stations.

“All passengers of the Moscow Metro will see the benefits of the BCL due to multiple new alternative routes. They will save up to 35–45 minutes per day on many of the routes. Radial lines will become 22 per cent less crowded, the Big Circle Line - up to 25 per cent, and major outbound routes - 5 per cent on average,” Sergei Sobyanin says.

On weekdays, roughly 600,000 passengers use the BCL. The most popular stations are Kakhovskaya (over 76,000 passengers per day) and Savyolovskaya (56,000 passengers). Even the incomplete circle unloads the existing metro lines: the Koltsevaya by 10 per cent, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya by 8 per cent, Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya by 7 per cent, and the Moscow Central Circle by 4 per cent.

The BCL construction has boosted the development of adjacent territories. Between 2013 and 2030, 391,000 jobs will be created around BCL stations. Investments in new office and shopping centers, sports and public service facilities construction, as well as residential development will total to about RUB 5.2 trillion, bringing the city additional income of about RUB 3.4 trillion by 2035. Each ruble invested into the BCL will bring the city 6.7 rubles of additional investments and 4.4 rubles of extra income to the budget.

This year, nine more stations will be launched to complete the BCL. Tekstilshchiki station resembles a weaver's loom due to an unusual ceiling. It will become an extra incentive for the development of the Technopolis Moscow Special Economic Zone, reduce commuting time for residents of the surrounding areas, and let passengers transfer to the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line and D2.

Pechatniki station is another transfer hub for residents of the Pechatniki, Lyublino, and Tekstilshchiki districts. Here, passengers will be able to transfer to the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line and D2. Nagatinsky Zaton station will stand out due to its realistic mosaic panels depicting fish made of genuine stone and the best Moskva River view.

Klenovy Boulevard station will facilitate commuting for residents of a rapidly growing Moscow district. Besides, the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve is located nearby. In the future, a transfer to the Biryulyovskaya metro line will be available here.

After the reconstruction, Kashirskaya and Varshavskaya stations became part of the BCL, thus letting passengers choose more convenient routes with fewer transfers for their trips.

Sokolniki station will become a new gateway to Sokolniki Park and will be a transfer point to the Sokolnicheskaya metro line. Rizhskaya station will become part of one of the largest transport hubs in Moscow linking together stations of the BCL, Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya metro line, D2, as well as future D3 and D4 lines. The Maryina Roshcha station, which is 72 meters under the ground, will be one of the deepest stations of the Moscow Metro. It will also be equipped with the longest escalator (130 meter-long).

"In addition to the BCL, we will set in operation five new metro stations in Pykhtino, Vnukovo, near Dmitrovskoye Motorway, in Lianozovo and the Severny district in 2023. The city will become closer for 500,000 Moscow residents, tens of thousands of the Moscow region residents and millions of Vnukovo Airport passengers," Sergei Sobyanin highlights.

Pykhtino station of the Solntsevskaya line is Moscow’s second partially underground metro station: due to terrain features, one part of it is sub-surface while the other part is roofed and on the surface. The metro will emerge within walking distance of a new residential microdistrict, Pykhtino village, and numerous rural settlements, which have already turned into full-fledged residential areas. Vnukovo station of the Solntsevskaya line will be the first metro station in Russia located near an airport.

After the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line is extended, citizens will have three new stations. Yakhromskaya and Fiztekh stations will make trips more convenient for residents of the Dmitrovskoye Motorway area, while Lianozovo station will become part of an important transport and transfer hub in the north of Moscow connecting the Lublinsko-Dmitrovskaya metro line and D1.

“Besides, in 2023, we will continue with other ongoing projects. Primarily, it is construction of the Troitskaya and Rublyovo-Arkhangelskaya metro lines, which will gradually be set in operation starting in 2024,” the Moscow Mayor says.