Train is bound for Troitsk. Metro construction in TiNAO

Moscow Metro keeps developing and expanding. In addition to the Big Circle Line (BCL), the most ambitious project in the history of Moscow underground construction, other lines are being built apace, including Troitskaya. The new line will run from the ZIL platform of the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) to Troitsk, becoming the one that goes beyond the Moscow Ring Road the farthest. It’s going to be about 40 kilometers long in total.

Which stations are already being built, how they are integrated into the existing public transport system and in which ways they are going to change the life in the new Moscow districts after becoming operational: read this report by mos.ru to learn all that and more.

Less traffic on motorways makes the city cleaner

Kaluzhskoye Motorway is still considered the main transport link between Troitsk and surroundings to central and southwest Moscow. But there are still no railway links to Troitsk from anywhere.

Metro is going to change that. Right now, a trip from Troitsk to Moscow downtown takes about 90 minutes on average; after the new line opens for traffic, its passengers will be able to cut it down by 30-50 minutes. The line will take the strain off the central and southern areas of red and orange Metro lines. The need to use personal cars will also diminish, reducing air pollution. Drivers are also going to feel less pressure as traffic drains from Kaluzhskoye Motorway, Leninsky Prospekt and Profsoyuznaya Street.

Troitskaya line started construction in 2018. It will include 17 stations; today, works are in full swing on 11 of them. We mean the ZIL - Kommunarka section that includes the following stations: ZIL, Krymskaya, Akedemicheskaya, Vavilovskaya, Novatorskaya, Universitet Druzhby Narodov, Generala Tyuleneva, Tyutchevskaya, Mamyri (Kornilovskaya), Bachurinskaya and Kommunarka.

All of them will be integrated into the public transport system of Moscow. From ZIL and Krymskaya, passengers will have a chance to switch to the eponymous MCC platforms; from Akademicheskaya - to Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line and from Novatorskaya to the BCL. Kommunarka will offer a connection to Sokolnicheskaya line.

Tunnels and construction pits

ZIL station, the first along the line, started construction this past fall. They are already pouring concrete for headshunts, lobbies and platform structures. The station will be located near Lisitskogo Street, in the eponymous former industrial zone in Danilovsky district. In the future, ZIL station will be connected to Biryulyovskaya Metro line (currently being designed) with a common lobby.

Construction at Krymskaya is also going full steam ahead. Currently, they are mounting the construction pit lining and digging a ditch for dump trucks that are supposed to take away the soil they excavate. On top of that, the frame for the special chamber that will receive the tunnel-boring machine as it moves from ZIL platform. The station itself will be located between the MCC tracks and the residential development in Donskoy district. It’s going to have two above-ground lobbies; one of them connecting it to the Krymskaya MCC platform. The station’s designers took inspiration from the Crimean Sea coast. “Seagull-sail” lighting fixtures resembling birds soaring high in the sky will be the main decorations.

The next station is Akademicheskaya. There, they have already finished earthworks and removed the fences around the pit. The platform design combines contemporary art with classical paintings. Antique pieces made in graffiti technique are supposed to decorate the walls. Akademicheskaya station will be located under Dmitriya Ulyanova Street where it crosses Profsoyuznaya Street. It’s supposed to have two underground lobbies, with one leading out to the city and to Akademicheskaya station of Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line.

At Vavilovskaya station, construction pit fences are almost ready. At the same time, construction workers are busy excavating earth and pouring concrete. The station will be located under Leninsky Prospekt, near the intersection of Stroiteley and Panferova streets. It will feature two lobbies. Yellow is going to be the accent color there: the V-shaped pillars on the platform will be painted in it. By the way, the famous Metro construction “ladies” work there: Olga TBM is boring the tunnel from Vavilovskaya to Akademicheskaya, while her friend Marina has already finished the running tunnel on the left side.

Best performers of Troitskaya line

The bulk of construction workforce are now busy at the Novarotskaya - Mamyri (Kornilovskaya) section of the line. That span, which is over 13 kilometers long (if you count tunnels leading to Bachurinskaya line), is already more than half-finished. Nine tunnel-boring machines in total were involved in drilling tunnels between the six stations there; the total distance they went through underground is over 21 kilometers.

Works at Novatorskaya station are in full swing: the whole gamut of earth and concrete operations, finishing the service facilities and engineering network assembly. The station will be running underground in parallel to Leninsky Prospekt, from its intersection with Novatorov Street to the one with Akademika Pilyugina Street. From there, passengers will be able to transfer to the BCL station of the same name.

Universitet Druzhby Narodov (Friendship of the Peoples University) station is over 70 per cent ready. Concrete works are done; right now, construction workers are doing the so-called backfill operations, filling the remaining pockets of the construction pit with earth. The station will run along Akademika Oparina Street where it crosses Miklukho-Maklaya Street. Its underground lobby will open to Akademika Oparina Street. The platform ceiling will feature coffers painted chartreuse green and blue on the inside.

Like Universitet Druzhby Narodov, Tyutchevskaya station can be considered among the best performing stations of the line. It’s also over 70 per cent done; right now, they are already laying tracks in the tunnels. The station is being built outside of MKAD, along the 42nd kilometer. It will be located in the Mosrentgen settlement. The platform interiors will be done in the expressionist style. Slanted lines are going to bisect the walls, separating aluminum cell panels with Fyodor Tyutchev’s poetry inscribed on them, from the dark, faux zinc-anodized background.

Mamyri (Kornilovskaya) station is also more than a half-done. Over there, they are now finishing main structures, building the two lobbies and preparing to lay the tracks. The station will run along Kaluzhskoye Motorway where it crosses Admirala Kornilova Street. In the future, Mamyri station is projected to be part of a transport hub. The station will be done in the fall colors: maroon, orange, yellow like falling leaves.

At Generala Tyuleneva station, they have already started interior finishing and engineering systems assembly: the station is also more than half-done. It will be located under the intersection of Teply Stan and Generala Tyuleneva Street. Walls and floors there will be lined with gray marble and orange cast stone; a portrait of General Ivan Tyulenev, a Soviet Army commander the street and the future metro station under it have been named after, will decorate a wall in the ticket area.

At Bachurinskaya and Kommunarka stations, they are currently pouring concrete and finishing service facilities. Bachurinskaya will open at the administration and business hub in Kommunarka settlement. The unique feature of the station design is a long, turbine-shaped lighting fixture covering the entire length of the platform. Kommunarka will be located near Stolbovo village in Sosenskoye settlement. It will be done in the biotech style referencing natural shapes and motifs in its architectural and decorative elements. That will underscore the station’s location close to TiNAO parks and forests

Meanwhile, Sosenki, Rakitki, Desna, Kedrovaya, Vatutinki and Troitsk stations are at the initial design stages. The last of them, Troitsk, will be the terminal station built on Oktyabrsky Prospekt in the town of Troitsk. The residents themselves voted for that location in the poll at mos.ru.