MCC beating ridership record so far this year

Over 100 million people have used the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) this year so far, which is 15 million more than the same period last year. Today, MCC trains carry over 470,000 passengers every day, Sergei Sobyanin wrote on his page in VKontakte.

On 2 October, the MCC’s Lastochka trains carried the highest number of passengers ever – over 490,000 riders – on the MCC since service began.

The most popular station is Ploshchad Gagarina. Over 9 million passengers have used this station from the beginning of the year. The Vladykino and Botanichesky Sad stations are also in the top five. Each of these stations provides a convenient change to the metro.

Before the MCC, metro passengers had to make several changes on different metro lines or walk a long way to the station they needed. When the new circle railway line was launched, many routes became faster. Muscovites can save from 9 to 16 minutes on the MCC, on average.

“Muscovites rely on the MCC during their city trips more often now. The MCC is gaining popularity thanks to convenient changes to other modes of transport. About 6 million passengers a month change from the MCC to the metro and back,” said Roman Latypov, First Deputy Head of the Moscow Metro for Strategic Development and Customer Relations.

The gleaming new Moscow Central Circle was launched in September 2016, and now provides 31 stations. Changes, or transfers, from the metro to the MCC and back are free within 90 minutes. Changing between metro stations and the MCC typically takes only 10-12 minutes. Each MCC station also provides changes to buses, trolleybuses, electric buses and trams.

The shortest and most convenient changes do not require going outside. Indoor transfers are available at the Mezhdunarodnaya, Leninsky Prospekt, Cherkizovskaya, Vladykino and Kutuzovskaya stations. Maps and signage direct passengers to other modes of transit.  Maps of the MCC and changes to suburban trains and metro stations, as well as signs pointing to exits with other surface transit modes, including route numbers, are placed at the stations.

The city continues to integrate the MCC with metro stations and railway platforms. The Shelepikha and Khoroshovskaya stations on the metro’s Big Circle Line opened in February. They provide transfers to the MCC. In March, the Okruzhnaya metro station opened on the Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya Line, which is connected to the station of the same name on the MCC. The MCC has relieved radial metro lines and central railway stations. Live Help desks are available at the Kutuzovskaya, Ploshchad Gagarina, Luzhniki, Delovoi Tsentr and Shelepikha stations. Here Muscovites and city visitors can get assistance in choosing the shortest routing and finding changes to other kinds of transport, understand fares and see landmarks on the way. Metro employees can provide information in Russian and English.

Comfortable and fast Lastochka trains run along the circular railway. The maximum speed is 120 km/h, but they average about 50 km/h. The trains are equipped with air conditioning, bio toilets, information screens, free Wi-Fi, charging sockets and bicycle racks.

The carriage doors are opened by pressing a button inside or out. The doors will only open when the train has come to a full stop at a platform. The door button turns green when it is ready to open. At other times the door is kept closed for safety purposes. Unlike suburban trains, Lastochka trains have no vestibules. This allows passengers to enter or leave the carriage faster.

MCC fares can be paid with ordinary city transit tickets (Unified travelcard, Troika card or 90 Minute ticket). The transport page on the mos.ru site offers more information on using the MCC including the rules for travel and for luggage and pets.