Big Circle Line stations to be built in 2022

In December 2021, the traffic was launched along the new 20 km long Big Circle Line (BCL) section of 10 stations — from Mnevniki to Kakhovskaya. Now there are 22 BCL stations in the Moscow metro.

Nine more are planned to be completed in the running year — the remaining BCL section is over 60 percent ready. Thus, the Big Circle of the Moscow metro will form a ring by 2023. The mos.ru article is about the next BCL stations.

Northeast Section: Depth and Avant-gardists

The Big Circle Line currently under construction is opened by sections. In order to form a ring, Moscow has to complete two large sections, as well as put into operation the former Kakhovskaya line that will become a part of the BCL.

The northern section of the Big Circle Line now terminates at Savelovskaya station to be followed by three more stations under construction — Maryina Roshcha, Rizhskaya and Sokolniki. The next four BCL stations after Sokolniki operate since 2020. However, while the Big Circle Line has not yet formed a ring, Elektrozavodskaya, Lefortovo, Aviamotornaya and Nizhegorodskaya stations work as part of the Nekrasovskaya line.

Maryina Roshcha station will be located in the 5th Proezd of Maryina Roshcha to become one of the deepest metro stations. 130 meters long escalators are record-breaking for the Moscow metro. For the moment the longest (127 m) escalators are installed at Park Pobedy station. Maryina Roshcha station will have an interchange to the light green branch and the MCD-2 platform. Thus, a large transport interchange hub will be arranged.

The design of Maryina Roshcha station was chosen by participants of the Active Citizen project voting. The station’s appearance is based on the aesthetics of porcelain. The platform will be decorated with bulbous columns, similar to porcelain articles.

Rizhskaya station will be opened in the homonymous square and connected by an interchange with its namesake — the station of the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line. Nearby, there are the Rizhsky Railway Station and platforms of the Moscow central diameters. From Rizhskaya, passengers will have access to Mira Avenue, ground transport stops, residential and public buildings.

Arch-shaped decorative digital display will be installed on the central wall in front of the station’s exit — it will show the time. The platform itself will be decorated with 12 more metal arches up to four meters high with built-in illumination. The arch is a key element in the station appearance that symbolizes the invitation to enter the city.

The artistic appearance of the new Sokolniki station will be dedicated to the history of metro construction. This is not surprising: the red line station of the same name was opened in 1935 as part of the first metro section, and not far from it, on Rusakovskaya Street, the very first metro shaft was located. Thus, Sokolniki station will provide interchange from the oldest Moscow metro station to one of the newest.

Aluminum panels depicting historical photographs and posters of the 40-50s of the 20th century will be placed on the tunnel walls, balconies and ceilings of the BCL Sokolniki station. One of the tunnel walls and part of the ceiling will be turned into a large decorative panel in the style of outstanding avant-garde artists and architects, among whom are founders of Russian constructivism and suprematism Kazimir Malevich, Vladimir Tatlin and El Lisitsky.

The platform will be located near the main entrance to Sokolniki Park, and a pedestrian corridor will connect it with the Sokolnicheskaya Line station. Landscaping has already begun on the adjacent territory: a lime alley with flowerbeds-benches will run from the metro exit to the park.

Eastern section: giant fish and traditional motifs

The Nizhegorodskaya station will be followed by the eastern section of the Big Circle Line. It is ready by over 50 per cent and consists of four stations: Tekstilschiki, Pechatniki, Nagatinsky Zaton and Klenovy Boulevard.

Between Shosseynaya and Lublinskaya Streets and close to the intersection with Volgogradsky Prospekt, the Tekstilschiki station is being constructed with two entrance lobbies that will lead to Lublinskaya and Shosseynaya Streets. It will be a large transport interchange hub in the future. Muscovites will be able to interchange to the Tekstilschiki station of the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line and the MCD-2 platform. An aboveground pedestrian crossing will also appear here.

The main feature of the new station will be the ceiling. It will consist of two levels, the opening between which will be highlighted. This technique raises associations of the knitting or weaving machine geometry and plays up with the station’s name.

The Pechatniki station is under construction at the intersection of Guryanov and Shosseynaya streets. Together with the station of the same name at the Lublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line and the MCD-2 station under construction, it will become part of a major transport interchange hub.

The Nagatinsky Zaton and Klenovy Boulevard stations will have no interchanges to other lines. But they will be very useful to residents of the Nagatinsky Zaton district, and visitors of the Kolomenskoye open-air museum.

The Nagatinsky Zaton station will appear at the beginning of Kolomenskaya Street — its name was determined by voting on the Active Citizensite. The international architectural contest chose an original design for the station — giant, about two meters high, fish — inhabitants of the Moscow region reservoirs — will ‘swim’ on the walls. 12 species of fish will be made of granite in the mosaic technique.

The Klenovy Boulevard station will be located at the intersection of the street of the same name with Kolomenskaya Embankment, near the Kolomenskoye open-air museum. Lighting elements of the station will refer to the culture of mesh ceramics developed in the territory of the Dyakov fortress site — the Slavs settlement that was located in the territory of Kolomenskoye in the 11th-13th centuries.

Once the Biryulevskoye metro line will open, this station will also become an interchange.

The former Kakhovskaya line: historical panels and marble columns

Going clockwise, the Klenovy Boulevard station is followed by the Kashirskaya station. Here, the BCL will go along the section of the former Kakhovskaya line closed for reconstruction in 2019.

Kashirskaya, Varshavskaya and Kakhovskaya stations were opened on August 11, 1969 as part of the Zamoskvoretskaya line, and in 1995, a separate and shortest Moscow’s metro line was laid from these stations. It wasn't in much demand compared to the other lines. Passenger traffic amounted to several tens of thousands people a day, the shortened trains ran here at five-minute intervals. After the line is included in the BCL, the interval will be reduced to the standard 1.5-2 minutes, and passengers will have the opportunity to get to other parts of the city without interchanging.

In 1969, two halls were built at Kashirskaya station to interchange from one line to another, but at present only trains of the Zamoskvoretskaya line run here. After the reconstruction, the station will become a cross-platform again: to interchange from the green line to the BCL and vice versa, it will be enough to go to the other side of the platform. The reconstruction of Kashirskaya is completed by over 25 per cent.

Varshavskaya station is located on the border of Nagorny and Moskvorechye-Saburovo districts, at the intersection of the Varshavskoye Highway with Chongarsky Boulevard. Now, architectural and finishing works are underway here. The columns will be lined with dark marble, and the tunnel walls — with white marble panels. Historically-themed decorative panels are placed along the tracks. It is planned to install an elevator in the western hall for limited mobility people.

From Varshavskaya, the trains will follow to the operating Kakhovskaya station. So the Big Circle Line will form a ring — the world's largest project in the metro construction. The circle line length will be 71 kilometers. It will consist of 31 stations.