Modern underground city: transformation of Moscow Metro

Today, the Moscow Metro is developing more rapidly than ever. Stations are being built and opened at a record pace, new lines are being designed, modern and comfortable trains are being launched, and the ticket system and passenger services are improving.

This week, the Moscow Metro celebrated its 88th anniversary. Over the past years, the metro has surely become the most essential and indispensable transport system in Moscow. Metro passengers make about 8 million trips on weekdays, which is comparable to the population of an entire country in South America or Southeast Asia.

Rapid growth and grandiose plans

Fast and well-orchestrated: the Moscow Metro has never been built at such a pace as today. Moscow is the world’s leader in the pace of construction and expansion of the metro network. Since 2010, the number of stations has almost doubled going from 182 to 258.

One of the significant changes in the last decade was a transition from the point design of stations on existing lines to the development of concepts of new metro radial lines. Since 2011, specialists have built and launched traffic on new Nekrasovskaya and Solntsevskaya lines. On March 1, 2023, the Big Circle Line (BCL), the major Moscow Metro construction project of recent years, was fully opened. The "Heart of the Moscow Metro" has become the longest circular metro line in the world. The BCL is 70 kilometers long and has 31 stations.

In 2016, the metro was launched in the Troitsky and Novomoskovsky Administrative Districts; the first station, Rumyantsevo, opened on the Sokolnicheskaya line. In 2023, eight stations operate in the district, and in 2024, the first stage of the new Troitskaya metro line, from the ZIL station to the Kommunarka station, is to be launched. In the future, this line will take passengers to the Troitsk District.

In addition, at the request of Moscow residents, specialists have restored the escalator gallery on Vorobyovy Gory, which had been closed for almost 40 years. Now metro passengers can quickly and conveniently get to the observation deck, the ski complex, the main building of Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Cable Car.

Between 2019 and 2021, the Moscow metro structure has expanded significantly. The Unified Dispatch Center that controls the transport operation became a part of it. The city tram network and the Moscow bus stations are now under the control of the Moscow Metro. Now metro services meet the uniform Moscow transport standards.

The metro staff is also growing: now it includes 69,000 employees. In 2021, the first train in modern history driven by a female worker started operating on the line. Today, 25 women work as drivers, and 16 more have become assistant drivers.

Sergei Sobyanin on Moscow Metro growth in 2023Vladimir Putin and Sergei Sobyanin open Big Circle LineMetro control room: how the Joint Operations Center of the Moscow Metro works“We showed other females new opportunities”: Kristina Vakulenko - about the profession of a metro train driver

Innovative Moskva-2020 trains

Contemporary design, wide doors and open gangways, adaptive lighting and powerful air conditioners with disinfection systems, touchscreens to plan routes and information boards: this is how the innovative new-generation Moskva-2020 trains that have been running in the metro since 2020 look like.

When designing a new metro train, engineers aspire to meet the needs of both passengers and drivers. Experts also focus on global metro development trends. The construction of the new rolling stock has been designed in exquisite detail. To make the metro more convenient for passengers, all seats have been equipped with USB sockets. Also, eight cameras have been installed in each car that allow specialists to respond promptly to incidents and improve safety. The noise level in such trains is 15 per cent less than in previous models.

Metro passengers use five types of trains (Nomernoy, Rusich, Oka, Moskva and Moskva-2020). Since 2010, the share of new metro cars has increased from 12 to 71 per cent as over 4,000 modern Russian cars have been purchased. Moscow is the world’s leader in its pace of rolling stock renewal.

Recently, manufacturers were assigned another important task, namely, to increase the number of Russian train components. The share of domestic parts used in the Moskva-2020 trains is already over 90 per cent.

21 electric depots service the metro rolling stock. Their system is also being developed. Since 2011, 11 depots have been built and reconstructed, including one of the largest depots, Rudnevo, that services the trains of the Nekrasovskaya line. Workers of three depots will monitor the trains running on the BCL, including the existing Zamoskvoretskoye depot, the recently opened Nizhegorodskoye depot and the Aminyevskoye depot, which will start operating in a few months.

From E to Moscow-2020: how metro trains and train driver job have changedSergei Sobyanin: about 100 modern Russian “Moscow-2020” trains to run on BCLFollowing long-term plan: Moscow Metro to keep getting new cars in coming years

Troika Travel Card, music and coffee

The modern Moscow metro is more than lines, stations, trains and depots. It provides many services that make travel more comfortable and diversified. Passengers can always stay in touch thanks to free Wi-Fi, attend a concert in interchange spaces and buy hot coffee in a vending machine right there. The list goes on.

The Moscow Metro is one of the world's leaders in the number of fare payment methods. At the same time, the Moscow Metro is among the first to implement these methods. Such success was achieved thanks to the ticket system, which was twice recognized as the smartest at international competitions.

Passengers can pay for travel with a bank card, using NFC-enabled Android smartphones with a loaded Mir card, Troika Travel Card, biometrics, fast payment system at the BCL ticket offices, Moscow Resident Social Card, and Unified Travel Card. To make fare payment more convenient, all turnstiles at Moscow Metro and Moscow Central Circle stations were replaced with modern ones. Paying with a bank card and biometrics is many times faster than before.

But most often, passengers use a Troika card. Over 10 years, more than 47 million travel cards have been sold. In 2022, Moscow switched completely to using Russian-made chips in Troika Travel Cards with all its options remained. The development of this chip began in 2019. In 2023, a virtual Troika Travel Card will be launched.

You can find out about the workload of cars, manage Troika’s balance online, or ask the chat bot Alexandra in the Moscow Metro mobile app completely updated in 2020 a question about the operation of the metro. The app has already been downloaded almost nine million times. In 2021 and 2022, the app became the winner of international awards.

Now finding, changing or exiting a metro station has become much more convenient and faster. A bright and clear unified navigation system and audio information helps passengers with this. Passenger Mobility Center staff provides people with assistance. They accompany school groups, hearing-impaired and visually impaired passengers, passengers with musculoskeletal disorders, large families and elderly passengers.

The Moscow Metro as a cultural platform is also developing. In 2016, the Metro Music project started. About 300,000 concerts have been held in 34 interchange spaces and halls. Passengers can also see exhibitions and travel by themed trains to learn more about the Russian history or animal shelters, for example. They can even look at some pieces of art.

There are more metro’s vending machines that sell food, drinks and mobile phone accessories. Thanks to lost items storage unit, passengers can find an umbrella lost in a car, for example. The unit is open daily from 08:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Cherkizovskaya, Delovoi Tsentr and Kotelniki stations.

Sergei Sobyanin: Troika Travel Card becomes indispensable for Muscovites and residents of more than 25 Russian regions in 10 years

Next station is future

The Moscow Metro is not ready to rest on its laurels. It has come up with grand and ambitious plans, which are already being implemented. Today, metro builders are building the Troitskaya metro line, new sections of the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya, Solntsevskaya and Rublevo-Arkhangelskaya lines and the Potapovo station of the Sokolnicheskaya line.

This year, preparation for construction of a new Biryulyovskaya line will begin, the design of the Golyanovo station, which is to become an extension of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line, will be completed, and the first Russia’s station in the Vnukovo Airport air harbor will be opened.

The rolling stock will also be improved. Between 2023 and 2025, the metro will purchase more than 800 modern cars. In 2024, the advanced Moskva-2020 trains offering new technical solutions can start operating on the line. Moreover, a project is being developed to make a new generation train, which will meet the needs of both passengers and drivers.

Sergei Sobyanin: Metro to reach Vnukovo Airport in 2023Train is bound for Troitsk. Metro construction in TiNAO