Sergei Sobyanin: Moscow’s surface metro network doubled in 2023
In 2023, 13 new and reconstructed commuter terminals were opened or re-opened at the Moscow Central Diameters (MCDs), so, now the local surface metro has four diameters with 136 stations and more than 300 kilometers of tracks, Sergei Sobyanin highlights the last year’s achievements in MCD development on his blog.
“The past year was a milestone for Moscow Central Diameters whose network has doubled. In August, we, together with Russian Railways OJSC, opened the Leningradsko-Kazansky D3, which connected Zelenograd and the town of Ramenskoye near Moscow. This is a new route running through the entire capital from north to southeast,” wrote the Moscow Mayor.
D3 has improved transport accessibility in more than 20 districts of Moscow and several cities in the Moscow region, with record passenger traffic of 443,000 trips per day and created new routes for residents; for instance, one can get from Zelenograd to Elektrozavodskaya commuter terminal or from Lyubertsy to Ostankino without transfers.
Before the launch of D3, the municipality carried out a large-scale reconstruction of Kryukovo station, Zelenograd’s main interchange hub, to create a world-class three-level Moscow commuter terminal with a passenger lounge, fully-canopied island platforms and a wide transit underground passage, plus an integration lobby with access to ground transport stops on the Kryukovskaya overpass. It services Sapsan trains running between Moscow and St. Petersburg in addition to D3 trains and conventional commuters.
Today there are 38 stations on D3, and in the future they will launch three more Moscow commuter terminals, namely, Malino, Mitkovo and Rizhskaya.
In September 2023, the fourth Moscow central diameter known, as Kaluzhsko-Nizhegorodsky, was added to the local transport network to connect Aprelevka and Vnukovo in the west and Balashikha’s Zheleznodorozhny microdistrict in the east.
“The fourth diameter is one of a kind. The most difficult one as the builders needed to integrate separate lines of the Moscow Railway, such as Kaluzhskaya and Nizhegorodskaya. The longest as it has 86 kilometers that have connected seven central railway stations, namely, Kursky, Yaroslavsky, Kazansky, Leningradsky, Savyolovsky, Rizhsky, and Belorussky. It has the largest number of interchange stations with more than 30 options for transfers to the metro, the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) and other diameters,” emphasized Sergei Sobyanin.
Today there are 36 stations on D4, many of them are trendy commuter terminals, such as:
— Belorusskaya (a change to D1, Circle Line and Zamoskvoretskaya Line);
— Three Stations Square (a change to D2, Circle Line and Sokolnicheskaya Line);
— Kurskaya (a change to D2, Circle line, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya and Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya metro lines);
— Maryina Roshcha (a change to D2, Big Circle Line and Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya metro lines);
— Olgino;
— Testovskaya (a change to D1, MCC, Solntsevskaya, Filyovskaya and BCL metro lines);
— Kutuzovskaya (a change to the MCC and Filyovskaya metro line);
— Poklonnaya (a change to Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya and Solntsevskaya metro lines);
— Ochakovo; and
— Lesnoy Gorodok.
In 2023, they also reconstructed Timiryazevskaya (a change to the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya metro line) and Lianozovo (a change to the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya metro line) D1 stations.
“Every day, MCD trains carry 1.2+ million passengers, both residents of Moscow and the Moscow region, who save time and money on daily trips. Since 2019, the total budget savings for passengers on the first two diameters have been 17.6 billion rubles,” noted Sergei Sobyanin.
Plans for 2024
In 2024, the municipality will continue to expand the Moscow Central Diameters as the capital is to have a new commuter terminal (D3 Mitkovo), the reconstruction of D2 Shcherbinka to be completed as well.
“We will open a new lobby at Belorussky Railway Station, which will integrate D1 and D4, and an extra lobby (overpass) across Lenin Street as part of the Moscow commuter terminal on D3 Zelenograd — Kryukovo. At D4 Testovskaya, we will build a lobby with access to Mukomolny Proezd and the ‘Great City’. With the help of a unique span structure, we will complete the integration of the Kutuzovskaya D4 commuter terminal with the metro,” added the Moscow Mayor.
In addition, it is planned to complete the construction of the southern lobby at the D1 Lianozovo commuter terminal and a lobby of the Business Center MCC station, which will connect the Moscow Central Circle and D4, to be Moscow’s contribution to the development of the railway infrastructure within the Central Transport Hub, a cornerstone of the national project for Modernization of Transport Infrastructure.
