As of December 2024[update], the Moscow Metro has 300 stations and 525.8 km (326.7 mi) of routes,[1] making it the8th-longest in the world, the longest in Europe and the longest outside China. It is also the only system in Russia with two circle lines.[2] The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section 73 m (240 ft) underground at thePark Pobedy station, one of the world's deepest underground stations. It is the busiest metro system in Europe, the busiest in the world outside Asia, and is considered a tourist attraction in itself, thanks to its lavish interior decoration.[3]
The Moscow Metro is a world leader in the frequency of train traffic, as intervals during peak hours often do not exceed 90 seconds.[4] In February 2023, Moscow was the first in the world to reduce the intervals of metro trains to 80 seconds.[5]
The full legal name of the metro has beenMoscowOrder of Lenin andOrder of the Red Banner of LaborV. I. Lenin Metro (Московский ордена Ленина и ордена Трудового Красного Знамени метрополитен имени В. И. Ленина) since 1955. This is usually shortened toV. I. Lenin Metro (Метрополитен им. В. И. Ленина). This shorter official name appears on many stations. Although there were proposals to remove Lenin from the official name, it still stands. During the 1990s and 2000s, Lenin's name was excluded from the signage on newly built and reconstructed stations. In 2016, a Metro representative stated that Lenin's name would remain on station name plates as it aligns with the official name of the company, unchanged since the Soviet era.[6]
The first official name of the metro wasL. M. Kaganovich Metro (Метрополитен им. Л.М. Кагановича) afterLazar Kaganovich[7] (seeHistory section). However, when the Metro was awarded theOrder of Lenin, it was officially renamedMoscow Order of Lenin L. M. Kaganovich Metro (Московский ордена Ленина Метрополитен им. Л. М. Кагановича) in 1947. When the metro was renamed in 1955, theOkhotny Ryad station was renamed as "Imeni Kaganovicha" in honor of Lazar Kaganovich. In 1957, the originalOkhotny Ryad name of the station was reinstated.[8]
The first line of the Moscow Metro was launched in 1935, complete with the firstlogo, the capital M paired with the text "МЕТРО". There is no accurate information about the author of the logo, so it is often attributed to the architects of the first stations – Samuil Kravets, Ivan Taranov and Nadezhda Bykova. At the opening in 1935, the M letter on the logo had no definite shape.[9]
In 2014, the Moscow Metro adopted a standardized logo of the network as part of a broader rebranding of the Moscow Transport.[10]
The Moscow Metro, astate-owned enterprise,[11] is 449 km (279 mi) long and consists of 15 lines and 263 stations[12] organized in aspoke-hub distribution paradigm, with the majority of rail lines running radially from the centre of Moscow to the outlying areas. TheKoltsevaya Line (line 5) forms a 20-kilometre (12 mi) long circle which enables passenger travel between these diameters, and the newMoscow Central Circle (line 14) and even newerBolshaya Koltsevaya line (line 11) form a 54-kilometre (34 mi) and 57-kilometre (35 mi) long circles respectively that serve a similar purpose on middle periphery.[13] Most stations and lines are underground, but some lines have at-grade and elevated sections; theFilyovskaya Line,Butovskaya Line and the Central Circle Line are the three lines that are at grade or mostly at grade.
The Moscow Metro uses1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)Russian gauge, like other Russian railways, and an underrunningthird rail with a supply of 825 VoltsDC,[citation needed] except line 14, which being directly connected to the mainlines with 3000V DC overhead lines, as is typical. The average distance between stations is 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi); the shortest (502 metres (1,647 ft) long) section is betweenDelovoy Tsentr andMoskva-City, and the longest (6.62 kilometres (4.11 mi) long) is betweenKrylatskoye andStrogino. Long distances between stations have the positive effect of a high cruising speed of 41.7 kilometres per hour (25.9 mph).
The Moscow Metro opens at 05:25 and closes at 01:00.[14] The exact opening time varies at different stations according to the arrival of the first train, but all stations simultaneously close their entrances at 01:00 for maintenance, and so do transfer corridors. The minimum interval between trains is 90 seconds during the morning and evening rush hours.[1]
As of 2017, the system had an average daily ridership of 6.99 million passengers. Peak daily ridership of 9.71 million was recorded on 26 December 2014.[1]
FreeWi-Fi has been available on all lines of the Moscow Metro since 2 December 2014.[15]
A Moscow Metro train passes throughSokolnicheskaya andKoltsevaya lines. View from the driver's cabin
Each line is identified by a name, an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of just a number, and sometimes a letter suffix), and a colour.[16] The colour assigned to each line is its colloquial identifier, except for the nondescript greens and blues assigned to theBolshaya Koltsevaya, theButovskaya andTroitskaya lines (lines 11, 12, and 16, respectively).[17] The upcoming station is announced by a male voice on inbound trains to the city center (on theCircle line and the Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line, the clockwise trains), and by a female voice on outbound trains (anti-clockwise trains on the Circle line and the Bolshaya Koltsevaya Line).[16]
The metro used to have a connection to the formerMoscow Monorail, a 4.7-kilometre (2.9 mi), six-stationmonorail line betweenTimiryazevskaya andVDNKh which opened in "excursion mode" (i. e. as a low-frequency service used primarily by tourists) in November 2004 and started providing regular passenger services in January 2008. Since 2017 the monorail has been switched into "excursion mode" with less frequent trains, before being shut down on 27 June 2025.[18]
Note: Line 13 is the formerMoscow Monorail that was disestablished in 2025. The lines are still numbered as if the line were there.
^Four central stations of the Filyovskaya Line –Alexandrovsky Sad (formerly Imeni Kominterna),Arbatskaya,Smolenskaya andKiyevskaya – were originally opened in 1935–1937, when they were a branch of the Sokolnicheskaya Line. Between 1938 and 1953, they were part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. The stations were closed between 1953 and 1958 and then reopened as part of the (new) Filyovskaya Line.A line branching off the Filyovskaya is in operation (as of July 2009), starting from the Alexsandrovsky Sad Station and continuing on the Filyovskaya Line to Kiyevskaya Station, where it departs to stop at the (new)Vystavochnaya and Mezhdunarodnaya Stations.
^(MCC) Operated by Moscow Metro, though the service is outsourced toRussian Railways. Uses the same fares and tickets as the metro system allowing for free transfers between the Central Circle and Moscow Metro proper.
^Suburban trains that are integrated into metro system within future boundaries of MCD. Dedicated metro lines alongside are under construction.
Also, from 11 August 1969 to 26 October 2019, the Moscow Metro includedKakhovskaya line 3.3 km (2.1 mi) long with 3 stations, which closed for a long reconstruction. On 7 December 2021,Kakhovskaya is reopened after reconstruction as part of theBolshaya Koltsevaya line. The renewed Varshavskaya and Kashirskaya stations reopened as part of the Bolshaya Koltsevaya line, which became fully functional on 1 March 2023. Its new stations included Pechatniki, Nagatinsky Zaton and Klenovy Bulvar.[19]
Soviet government resolution to construct the Moscow Metro1935 Soviet stamp marking the opening of the first Moscow metro line
Vestibule of theKropotkinskaya station in 2016, with the official name of the metro "V.I. Lenin Metro" (Метрополитен имени В.И. Ленина)
The same vestibule in 1935, with the previous name of the metro: "L.M. Kaganovich Metro" (Метро им. Л.М. Кагановича)
The first plans for a metro system in Moscow date back to theRussian Empire but were postponed byWorld War I, theOctober Revolution and theRussian Civil War. In 1923, the Moscow City Council formed the Underground Railway Design Office at the Moscow Board of Urban Railways. It carried out preliminary studies, and by 1928 had developed a project for the first route from Sokolniki to the city centre. At the same time, an offer was made to the German company Siemens Bauunion to submit its own project for the same route. In June 1931, the decision to begin construction of the Moscow Metro was made by theCentral Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In January 1932 the plan for the first lines was approved, and on 21 March 1933 the Soviet government approved a plan for 10 lines with a total route length of 80 km (50 mi).
The first lines were built using the Moscow general plan designed byLazar Kaganovich, along with his project managers (notably Ivan M. Kuznetsov and, later, Isaac Y. Segal) in the 1930s–1950s, and the Metro was named after him until 1955(Metropoliten im. L.M. Kaganovicha).[7] The Moscow Metro construction engineers consulted with their counterparts from theLondon Underground, the world's oldest metro system, in 1936: British architectCharles Holden and administratorFrank Pick had been working on the station developments of thePiccadilly Line extension, and Soviet delegates to London were impressed by Holden's thoroughly modern redeployment of classical elements and use of high-quality materials for the circular ticket hall ofPiccadilly Circus, and so engaged Pick and Holden as advisors to Moscow's metro system.[20] Partly because of this connection, the design ofGants Hill tube station, which was completed in 1947, is reminiscent of a Moscow Metro station. Indeed, Holden's homage to Moscow has been described as a gesture of gratitude for the USSR's helpful role inThe Second World War.[21][22]
Soviet workers did the labour and the art work, but the main engineering designs, routes, and construction plans were handled by specialists recruited from London Underground. The British called for tunnelling instead of the "cut-and-cover" technique, the use ofescalators instead of lifts, the routes and the design of the rolling stock.[23] The paranoia of theNKVD was evident when the secret police arrested numerous British engineers forespionage because they gained an in-depth knowledge of the city's physical layout. Engineers for theMetropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company (Metrovick) were given ashow trial and deported in 1933, ending the role of British business in the USSR.[24]
Women's construction brigade led by Tatyana Viktorovna Fyodorova during construction of the second line of the Moscow metro, 1936
The first line was opened to the public on 15 May 1935 at 07:00 am.[25] It was 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long and included 13 stations. The day was celebrated as a technological and ideological victory forsocialism (and, by extension,Stalinism). The designers consulted with employees of theLondon Underground during the initial planning phase, and much of the engineering design work was done by British engineers.[26]
An estimated 285,000 people rode the Metro at its debut, and its design was greeted with pride; street celebrations included parades, plays and concerts. TheBolshoi Theatre presented a choral performance by 2,200 Metro workers; 55,000 colored posters (lauding the Metro as the busiest and fastest in the world) and 25,000 copies of "Songs of the Joyous Metro Conquerors" were distributed.[27] The Moscow Metro averaged 47 km/h (29 mph) and had a top speed of 80 km/h (50 mph).[28] In comparison,New York City Subway trains averaged a slower 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) and had a top speed of 45 miles per hour (72 km/h).[27] While the celebration was an expression of popular joy it was also an effective propaganda display, legitimizing the Metro and declaring it a success.
The second stage was completed before thewar. In March 1938, the Arbatskaya branch was split and extended to theKurskaya station (now the dark-blueArbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line). In September 1938, theGorkovskaya Line opened betweenSokol andTeatralnaya. Here the architecture was based on that of the most popular stations in existence (Krasniye Vorota, Okhotnyi Ryad and Kropotkinskaya); while following the popular art-deco style, it was merged with socialist themes. The firstdeep-level column stationMayakovskaya was built at the same time.
Building work on the third stage was delayed (but not interrupted) duringWorld War II, and two Metro sections were put into service;Teatralnaya–Avtozavodskaya (three stations, crossing the Moskva River through a deep tunnel) andKurskaya–Partizanskaya (four stations) were inaugurated in 1943 and 1944 respectively. War motifs replaced socialist visions in the architectural design of these stations. During theSiege of Moscow in the fall and winter of 1941, Metro stations were used as air-raid shelters; theCouncil of Ministers moved its offices to theMayakovskaya platforms, where Stalin made public speeches on several occasions. TheChistiye Prudy station was also walled off, and the headquarters of the Air Defence established there.
After the war ended in 1945, construction began on the fourth stage of the Metro, which included theKoltsevaya Line, a deep part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line fromPloshchad Revolyutsii toKievskaya and a surface extension toPervomaiskaya during the early 1950s. The decoration and design characteristic of the Moscow Metro is considered to have reached its zenith in these stations. TheKoltsevaya Line was first planned as a line running under theGarden Ring, a wide avenue encircling the borders of Moscow's city centre. The first part of the line – fromPark Kultury toKurskaya (1950) – follows this avenue. Plans were later changed and the northern part of the ring line runs 1–1.5 kilometres (0.62–0.93 mi) outside the Sadovoye Koltso, thus providing service for seven (out of nine) rail terminals. The next part of the Koltsevaya Line opened in 1952 (Kurskaya–Belorusskaya), and in 1954 the ring line was completed.
When the Metro opened in 1935, it immediately became the centrepiece of the transportation system (as opposed to horse-carried barrows still widely used in 1930s Moscow). It also became the prototype, the vision for future Soviet large-scale technologies. The artwork of the 13 original stations became nationally and internationally famous. For example, theSverdlov Square subway station featured porcelain bas-reliefs depicting the daily life of the Soviet peoples, and the bas-reliefs at the Dynamo Stadium sports complex glorified sports and physical prowess on the powerful new"Homo Sovieticus" (Soviet man).[30] The metro was touted as the symbol of the new social order – a sort of Communist cathedral of engineering modernity.[31]
The Metro was also iconic for showcasingSocialist Realism in public art. The method was influenced byNikolay Chernyshevsky,Lenin's favorite 19th-centurynihilist, who stated that "art is no useful unless it serves politics".[27] This maxim sums up the reasons why the stations combined aesthetics, technology and ideology: any plan which did not incorporate all three areas cohesively was rejected.
Kaganovich was in charge; he designed the subway so that citizens would absorb the values and ethos of Stalinist civilization as they rode. Without this cohesion, the Metro would not reflect Socialist Realism. If the Metro did not utilize Socialist Realism, it would fail to illustrate Stalinist values and transform Soviet citizens into socialists. Anything less than Socialist Realism's grand artistic complexity would fail to inspire a long-lasting, nationalistic attachment to Stalin's new society.[32]
Socialist Realism was in fact a method, not exactly a style.[33]
Bright future and literal brightness in the Metro of Moscow
The Moscow Metro was one of the USSR's most ambitious architectural projects. The metro's artists and architects worked to design a structure that embodiedsvet (literally "light", figuratively "radiance" or "brilliance") andsvetloe budushchee (a well-lit/radiant/bright future).[33] With their reflective marble walls, high ceilings and grand chandeliers, many Moscow Metro stations have been likened to an "artificial underground sun".[34]
This palatial underground environment[34] reminded Metro users their taxes were spent on materializingbright future; also,the design was useful for demonstrating the extra structural strength of the underground works (as in Metro doubling asbunkers, bomb shelters).
The chief lighting engineer was Abram Damsky, a graduate of the Higher State Art-Technical Institute in Moscow. By 1930 he was a chief designer in Moscow's Elektrosvet Factory, and during World War II was sent to theMetrostroi (Metro Construction) Factory as head of the lighting shop.[35] Damsky recognized the importance of efficiency, as well as the potential for light as an expressive form. His team experimented with different materials (most often cast bronze, aluminum, sheet brass, steel, and milk glass) and methods to optimize the technology.[35] Damsky's discourse on "Lamps and Architecture 1930–1950" describes in detail the epic chandeliers installed in the Taganskaya Station and the Kaluzhskaia station (Oktyabrskaya nowadays, not to be confused with contemporary "Kaluzhskaya" station on line 6). The work of Abram Damsky further publicized these ideas hoping people would associate the party with the idea ofbright future.
The Oktyabrskaya Station (originally named Kaluzhskaya) was designed by the architect [Leonid] Poliakov. Poliakov's decision to base his design on a reinterpretation of Russian classical architecture clearly influenced the concept of the lamps, some of which I planned in collaboration with the architect himself. The shape of the lamps was a torch – the torch of victory, as Polyakov put it... The artistic quality and stylistic unity of all the lamps throughout the station's interior made them perhaps the most successful element of the architectural composition. All were made of cast aluminum decorated in a black and gold anodized coating, a technique which the Metrostroi factory had only just mastered.
The Taganskaia Metro Station on the Ring Line was designed in...quite another style by the architects K.S. Ryzhkov and A. Medvedev... Their subject matter dealt with images of war and victory...The overall effect was one of ceremony ... In the platform halls the blue ceramic bodies of the chandeliers played a more modest role, but still emphasised the overall expressiveness of the lamp.[35]
Stalin'sfirst five-year plan (1928–1932) facilitated rapid industrialization to build a socialist motherland. The plan was ambitious, seeking to reorient an agrarian society towards industrialism. It was Stalin's fanatical energy, large-scale planning, and resource distribution that kept up the pace of industrialization. The first five-year plan was instrumental in the completion of the Moscow Metro; without industrialization, the Soviet Union would not have had the raw materials necessary for the project. For example, steel was a main component of many subway stations. Before industrialization, it would have been impossible for the Soviet Union to produce enoughsteel to incorporate it into the metro's design; in addition, a steel shortage would have limited the size of the subway system and its technological advancement.
The Moscow Metro furthered the construction of a socialist Soviet Union because the project accorded with Stalin'ssecond five-year plan. The Second Plan focused on urbanization and the development of social services. The Moscow Metro was necessary to cope with the influx of peasants who migrated to the city during the 1930s; Moscow's population had grown from 2.16 million in 1928 to 3.6 million in 1933. The Metro also bolstered Moscow's shaky infrastructure and its communal services, which hitherto were nearly nonexistent.[27]
TheCommunist Party had the power to mobilize; because the party was a single source of control, it could focus its resources. The most notable example of mobilization in the Soviet Union occurred duringWorld War II. The country also mobilized in order to complete the Moscow Metro with unprecedented speed. One of the main motivation factors of the mobilization was to overtake the West and prove that a socialist metro could surpass capitalist designs. It was especially important to the Soviet Union that socialism succeed industrially, technologically, and artistically in the 1930s, sincecapitalism was at a low ebb during theGreat Depression.
The person in charge of Metro mobilization wasLazar Kaganovich. A prominent Party member, he assumed control of the project as chief overseer. Kaganovich was nicknamed the "Iron Commissar"; he shared Stalin's fanatical energy, dramatic oratory flare, and ability to keep workers building quickly with threats and punishment.[27] He was determined to realise the Moscow Metro, regardless of cost. Without Kaganovich's managerial ability, the Moscow Metro might have met the same fate as thePalace of the Soviets: failure.
Kiyevskaya (Line 3) (1954) is decorated with a series ofmosaics by various artists depicting life inUkraine which was then part of the Soviet Union.
This was a comprehensive mobilization; the project drew resources and workers from the entire Soviet Union. In his article, archeologist Mike O'Mahoney describes the scope of the Metro mobilization:
A specialist workforce had been drawn from many different regions, including miners from the Ukrainian and Siberian coalfields and construction workers from the iron and steel mills of Magnitogorsk, the Dniepr hydroelectric power station, and the Turkestan-Siberian railway... materials used in the construction of the metro included iron from SiberianKuznetsk, timber from northern Russia,cement from the Volga region and the northern Caucasus,bitumen fromBaku, andmarble andgranite from quarries inKarelia, theCrimea, the Caucasus, theUrals, and the Soviet Far East
— Mike O'Mahoney, Archeological Fantasies: Constructing History on the Moscow Metro[36]
Skilled engineers were scarce, and unskilled workers were instrumental to the realization of the metro. TheMetrostroi (the organization responsible for the Metro's construction) conducted massive recruitment campaigns. It printed 15,000 copies ofUdarnik metrostroia (Metrostroi Shock Worker, its daily newspaper) and 700 other newsletters (some in different languages) to attract unskilled laborers. Kaganovich was closely involved in the recruitment campaign, targeting theKomsomol generation because of its strength and youth.
Sportivnaya station (1957), Line 1 (with a "retro train")
The beginning of theCold War led to the construction of a deep section of theArbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. The stations on this line were planned as shelters in the event of nuclear war. After finishing the line in 1953 the upper tracks betweenPloshchad Revolyutsii andKiyevskaya were closed, and later reopened in 1958 as a part of theFilyovskaya Line. The stations, too, were supplied with tight gates and life-sustenance systems to function as proper nuclear shelters.
In the further development of the Metro the term "stages" was not used any more, although sometimes the stations opened in 1957–1959 are referred to as the "fifth stage".[37]
Polezhayevskaya (1972),Line 7. As of January 2022, the variegated walls are preserved "as is"
During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the architectural extravagance of new Metro stations was decisively rejected on the orders ofNikita Khrushchev. He had a preference for a utilitarian "minimalism"-like approach to design, similar toBrutalism style. The idea behind the rejection was similar to one used to createKhrushchyovkas: cheap yet easily mass-produced buildings. Stations of his era, as well as most 1970s stations, were simple in design and style, with walls covered with identical square ceramic tiles. Even decorations at the Metro stations almost finished at the time of the ban (such asVDNKh andAlexeyevskaya) got their final decors simplified: VDNKh's arcs/portals, for example, got plain green paint to contrast with well-detailed decorations and pannos around them.
A typical layout of the cheap shallow-dug metro station (which quickly became known asSorokonozhka – "centipede", from early designs with 40 concrete columns in two rows) was developed for all new stations, and the stations were built to look almost identical, differing from each other only in colours of the marble and ceramic tiles. Most stations were built with simpler, cheap technology; this resulted inutilitarian design being flawed in some ways. Some stations such as adjacentRechnoi Vokzal andVodny Stadion or sequientialLeninsky Prospect,Akadmicheskaya,Profsoyuznaya andNovye Cheryomushki would have a similar look due to the extensive use of same-sized white or off-white ceramic tiles with hard-to-feel differences.
Walls with cheap ceramic tiles were susceptible to train-related vibration: some tiles would eventually fall off and break. It was not always possible to replace the missing tiles with the ones of the exact color and tone, which eventually led tovariegated parts of the walls.
The contrasting style gap between the powerfully decorated stations of Moscow's center and the spartan-looking stations of the 1960s was eventually filled. In the mid-1970s the architectural extravagance was partially restored. However, the newer design of shallow "centipede" stations (now with 26 columns, more widely spaced) continued to dominate. For example,Kaluzhskaya "centipede" station from 1974 (adjacent toNovye Cheryomushki station) features non-flat tiles (with 3D effect utilized), andMedvedkovo from 1978 features complex decorations.
1971 stationKitay-Gorod ("Ploshchad Nogina" at the time) featurescross-platform interchange (Line 6 and line 7). Although built without "centipede" design or cheap ceramic tiles, the station utilizes near-grayscale selection of colors. It is to note the "southbound" and "northbound" halls of the station have identical look.
Babushkinskaya station from 1978 is a no-column station (similar toBiblioteka Imeni Lenina from 1935). 1983Chertanovskaya station has resemblance toKropotkinskaya (from 1935). Some stations, such as the deep-dugShabolovskaya (1980), have the near-tunnel walls decorated with metal sheets, not tiles.Tyoply Stan features a theme related to the name and the location of the station ("Tyoply Stan" used to literally meanwarm area): its walls are covered in brick-colored ribbed panes, which look likeradiators).
Downtown area got such stations asBorovitskaya (1986), with uncovered red bricks and gray, concrete-like colors accompanying a single gold-plated decorative pane known as "Tree of peoples' of USSR" or additional station hall forTretyakovskaya to housecross-platform interchange system between line 6 and line 8. To this day, Tretyakovskaya metro station consists of two contrasting halls:brutalistic 1971 hall and custom design hall from 1986 reminiscent ofTretyakovskaya Galereya museum located within walking distance.
Post-USSR stations of the modern Russian Federation
The sleek variant of aforementioned bionic style is somewhat represented in various Line 10 stations.
Sretensky Bulvar station of line 10 is decorated with paintings of nearby memorials and locations.
Strogino station has a theme of huge eye-shaped boundaries for lights; with "eyes" occupying the station's ceiling.
Troparyovo (2014) features trees made of polished metal. The trees hold the station's diamond-shaped lights. The station, however, is noticeably dim-lit.
Delovoy Tsentr (2016, MCC, overground station) has green tint.
Some bleak, bland-looking "centipedes" likeAkademicheskaya andYugo-Zapadnaya have undergone renovations in the 21st century (new blue-striped white walls on Akademicheskaya, aqualine glassy, shiny walls on Yugo-Zapadnaya).
A new circle metro line in Moscow was relatively quickly made in the 2010s. The Moscow Central Circle line (Line 14) was opened for use in September 2016 by re-purposing and upgrading theMaloe ZheleznoDorozhnoe Kol'tso. A proposal to convert that freight line into ametropolitan railway with frequent passenger service was announced in 2012. The original tracks had been built in pre-revolutionary Moscow decades before the creation of Moscow Metro; the tracks remained in place in one piece as a non-electrified line until the 21st century. Yet thecircle route was never abandoned or cut. New track (along the existing one) was laid and all-new stations were built between 2014 and 2016. MCC's stations got such amenities asvending machines and freewater closets.
Line 14 is operated byRussian Railways and uses full-sized trains (an idea, somewhat similar toS-Train). The extra resemblance to an S-Train line is, the 1908 line now connects modern northern residential districts to western and southerndowntown area, with a station adjacent toMoscow International Business Center.
There is a noticeable relief of congestion, decrease in usage of formerly overcrowdedKoltsevaya line since the introduction of MCC. To make line 14 attractive to frequentKoltsevaya line interchanges users, upgrades over regular comfort of Moscow Metro were made. Use of small laptops/portable video playing devices and food consumption fromtupperwares andtubs was also improved for Line 14: the trains have small folding tables in the back of nearly every seat, while the seats are facing one direction like in planes or intercity buses - unlike side-against-side sofas typical for Metro.
UnlikeMCD lines (D1, D2 etc.) MCC line accepts "unified" tickets and "Troika" cards just like Moscow Metro and buses of Moscow do. Free transfers are permitted between the MCC and the Moscow Metro if the trip before the transfer is less than 90 minutes.[38] It's made possible by using same "Ediny", literally "unified" tickets instead of printing "paper tickets" used at railroads.
To interchange to line 14 for free, passenger must keep their freshly used ticket after entering Moscow Metro to apply it upon entering any line 14 station (and vice versa, keep their "fresh" ticket to enter underground Metro line after leaving Line 14 for an interchange).
In 2019, new lines ofRussian Railways got included in the map of Metro as "line D1" and "line D2". Unlike Line 14, the MCD lines actually formS-Train lines, bypassing the "vokzals", terminus stations of respective intercity railways. Line D3 is planned to be launched in August 2023, while D4 will be launched in September of that year. The schedule for the development of the infrastructure of the Central Transport Hub in 2023 was signed by theMoscowMayorSergei Sobyanin and the head ofRussian RailwaysOleg Belozerov in December 2022.[39]
As for the fees, MCD accepts Moscow's "Troika" cards. Also, every MCD station has printers which print "station X – station Y" tickets on paper. Users of the D lines must keep their tickets until exiting their destination stations: their exit terminals require a valid "... to station Y" ticket's barcode.[40]
After upgrading the railway from 1908 to a proper Metro line, the development of another circle route was re-launched, now adjusted for the pear-shapedcircle route of line #14.
Throughout the late 2010s, Line 11 was extended from short, tinyKakhovskaya line to a half-circle (from Kakhovskaya toSavyolovskaya). In early 2023, the circle was finished.[41]
Similarly madeShelepikha,Khoroshovskaya,CSKA andPetrovsky Park stations have lots of polished granite and shiny surfaces, in contrast to Soviet "centipedes". Throughout 2018–2021, these stations were connected toline 8A.
Narodnoye Opolcheniye (2021) features lots of straight edges and linear decorations (such as uninterrupted "three stripes" style of the ceiling lights and rectangular columns).
As for the spring of 2023, the wholecircle route line is up and running, forming a circle stretching to the southern near-MKAD residential parts of the city (Prospekt Vernadskogo,Tekstilshchiki) as opposed to the MCC's stretching towards the northern districts of Moscow. In other words, BCL "mirrors" MCC, avoiding forming a perfect circle around the city centre. While being 70 km (43 mi) long, the line is now the longest subway line in the world, 13 km (8.1 mi) ahead of the previous record holder - the line 10 ofBeijing Subway.[42]
GIF-animated scheme of Moscow Metro growth (1935–2019)
Since the turn of the 2nd millennium several projects have been completed, and more are underway. The first was the Annino-Butovo extension, which extended theSerpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line fromPrazhskaya to Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya in 2000, Annino in 2001 andBulvar Dmitriya Donskogo in 2002. Its continuation, an elevatedButovskaya Line, was inaugurated in 2003.Vorobyovy Gory station, which initially opened in 1959 and was forced to close in 1983 after the concrete used to build the bridge was found to be defective, was rebuilt and reopened after many years in 2002. Another recent project included building a branch off theFilyovskaya Line to theMoscow International Business Center. This includedVystavochnaya (opened in 2005) andMezhdunarodnaya (opened in 2006).
In 2011, works began on theThird Interchange Contour that is set to take the pressure off the Koltsevaya Line.[44] Eventually the new line will attain a shape of the second ring with connections to all lines (except Koltsevaya and Butovskaya).[45]
In 2013, theTagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line was extended after several delays to the south-eastern districts of Moscow outside the Ring Road with the opening ofZhulebino andLermontovsky Prospekt stations. Originally scheduled for 2013, a new segment of theKalininskaya Line betweenPark Pobedy andDelovoy Tsentr (separate from the main part) was opened in January 2014, while the underground extension ofButovskaya Line northwards to offer a transfer to theKaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line was completed in February.Spartak, a station on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Line that remained unfinished for forty years, was finally opened in August 2014. The first stage of the southern extension of theSokolnicheskaya Line, theTroparyovo station, opened in December 2014.
In addition to major metro expansion the Moscow Government and Russian Railways plans to upgrade more commuter railways to a metro-style service, similar to theMCC. New tracks and stations are planned to be built in order to achieve this.
List of expansion projects of Moscow Metro by date
Of the metro's 250 stations, 88 are deep underground, 123 are shallow, 12 are surface-level and 5 are elevated.
This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2018)
The deep stations comprise 55triple-vaulted pylon stations, 19triple-vaulted column stations, and onesingle-vault station. The shallow stations comprise 79spanned column stations (a large portion of them following the "centipede" design), 33single-vaulted stations (Kharkov technology), and four single-spanned stations. In addition, there are 12 ground-level stations, four elevated stations, and one station (Vorobyovy Gory) on a bridge. Two stations have three tracks, and one has double halls. Seven of the stations have side platforms (only one of which is subterranean). In addition, there were two temporary stations within rail yards.
The stations being constructed underStalin's regime, in the style ofsocialist classicism, were meant as underground "palaces of the people". Stations such asKomsomolskaya,Kiyevskaya orMayakovskaya and others built after 1935 in the second phase of the evolution of the network are tourist landmarks: their photogenic architecture, large chandeliers and detailed decoration are unusual for an urban transport system of the twentieth century.
The stations opened in the 21st century are influenced by an international and more neutral style with improved technical quality.[46]
Dimensions have varied subtly, but for the most cars fit into the ranges of 19–20 metres (62 ft 4 in – 65 ft 7 in) long and2.65–2.7 metres (8 ft8+3⁄8 in – 8 ft10+1⁄4 in) wide with 4 doors per side. The81-740/741 Rusich deviates greatly from this, with a 3-car Rusich being roughly 4 normal cars and a 5-car Rusich being 7 normal cars.
The V-type trains were formerly from Berlin U-BahnC-class trains from 1945 to 1969, until its complete demise in 1970. They were transported from theBerlin U-Bahn during the Soviet occupation. A-type and B-type trains were custom-made since the opening.
The Moscow Monorail used Intamin P30 trains, which consisted of six short cars.
Currently, the Metro only operates 81-style trains.
Rolling stock on several lines was replaced with articulated 81-740/741 Rusich trains, which were originally designed for light rail subway lines. TheButovskaya Line was designed by different standards, and has shorter (96-metre (315 ft) long) platforms. It employs articulated 81-740/741 trains, which consist of three cars (although the line can also use traditional four-car trains).
On theMoscow Central Circle, which is a route on the conventional railway line, ES2GLastochka trains are used, consisting of five cars.
The Moscow Metro charges a flat fare for a single journey, regardless of distance or time travelled within the network. An exception to this is theMoscow Central Diameters, which operate on a zone-based fare system.The Moscow Metro ticketing system allows free interchanges within a 90-minute window between different transport modes, including the MCC, the MCD, trams and buses.[47]
Modern Metro turnstiles are designed to accept various forms of payment, including plastic cards like theTroika card or Moscow Resident Social Cards, bank cards, bank stickers, souvenir tickets such as Troika rings, bracelets, or keychains, and disposable RFID chip cardboard cards. Additionally, all stations are equipped to accept biometric payments. Some transport cards have usage limitations that impose a waiting period between consecutive uses (e.g., delays of 7 or 20 minutes).[48]
Soviet era turnstiles simply accepted N kopeck coins.
In the early years of Russian Federation (and with the start of ahyperinflation) plastic tokens were used. Disposablemagnetic stripe cards were introduced in 1993 on a trial basis, and used as unlimited monthly tickets between 1996 and 1998. The sale of tokens ended on 1 January 1999, and they stopped being accepted in February 1999; from that time, magnetic cards were used as tickets with a fixed number of rides.
On 1 September 1998, the Moscow Metro became the first metro system in Europe to fully implement "contactless"smart cards, known as Transport Cards. Transport Cards were the card to have unlimited amount of trips for 30, 90 or 365 days, its active lifetime was projected as 3½ years. Defective cards were to be exchanged at no extra cost.
In August 2004, thecity government launched the Moscow Resident Social Card program. Social Cards are free smart cards issued for the elderly and other groups of citizens officially registered as residents of Moscow or theMoscow region; they offer discounts in shops and pharmacies, and double as credit cards issued by theBank of Moscow. Social Cards can be used for unlimited free access to the city's public-transport system, including the Moscow Metro; while they do not feature the time delay, they include a photograph and are non-transferable.
Since 2006,several banks have issuedcredit cards which double as Ultralight cards and are accepted at turnstiles. The fare is passed to the bank and the payment is withdrawn from the owner's bank account at the end of the calendar month, using a discount rate based on the number of trips that month (for up to 70 trips, the cost of each trip is prorated from current Ultralight rates; each additional trip costs 24.14 rubles).[49] Partner banks include theBank of Moscow,CitiBank,Rosbank,Alfa-Bank andAvangard Bank.[50]
In January 2007, Moscow Metro began replacing limited magnetic cards withcontactless disposable tickets based onNXP'sMIFARE Ultralight technology. Ultralight tickets are available for a fixed number of trips in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 60-trip denominations (valid for 5 or 90 days from the day of purchase) and as a monthly ticket, only valid for a selected calendar month and limited to 70 trips. The sale of magnetic cards ended on 16 January 2008 and magnetic cards ceased to be accepted in late 2008, making the Moscow metro the world's first major public-transport system to run exclusively on a contactless automatic fare-collection system.[51]
On 2 April 2013, the Moscow Department of Transport introduced theTroika smartcard, which serves as the foundation of the city's modern ticketing system. Currently, passengers can use a single Troika card to pay for travel on the metro,MCC,MCD, buses,trams, river transport, suburban trains, andAeroexpress. Approximately 80% of all trips in Moscow are paid for using Troika, with over 50 million cards sold to date.[52]
In 2023, Troika production, including its chip, was fully localized in Moscow. In 2024, Moscow plans to launch a virtual analog of the card for smartphones.[52]
Moreover, the Moscow Metro offers Ediniy (Unified) tickets with varying durations: 1 day, 3 days, 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and 365 days.[53]
In 2015, the Moscow Metro started testing bank card payments at ticket windows.[54] At the moment, bank card or bank sticker payments are accepted at all turnstiles in the network. As of April 2024, this payment option is used approximately 900 thousand times daily.[55]
In October 2021, the Moscow Metro became the first metro system in the world to implement biometric payment on a large scale. To use this system, passengers must link their photo, bank card, and metro card to the service through the Moscow Metro mobile app. This allows passengers to pay for their rides without taking out their phone, metro card, or bank card, thereby increasing passenger flow at station entrances. The technology is available at all metro stations, the MCC, and on river transport. As of April 2024, passengers have completed 100 million trips using biometric technology.[55]
Monorail fare is 50 rubles (25 rubles discount fare), no other tickets are valid on monorail
2006-01-01
15 rubles
2007-01-01
17 rubles
2008-01-01
19 rubles
Monorail fare is equal to the metro fare (reduced to 19 rubles), and only special monthly tickets also available and valid on this line
2009-01-01
22 rubles
2010-01-01
26 rubles
2011-01-01
28 rubles
Russian Railways fare in Moscow fare principles are separated and the fare did not increase (26 rubles) unlike in earlier years.
2013-01-01
28 rubles
minor change: Monorail fare included in all metro fares, first transfer in 90 minutes does not charge
2013-04-02
30 rubles
Single journey fare increased. Most other kinds of fares are lowered. New: 90 minute fare.
2014-01-01
30–40 rubles
Single and double fare increased. 5–60 pass fare, and all 90 minute fare are stayed. Russian railway fare in Moscow increased to 28 rubles.
2016-01-01
32–50 rubles
All ticket fares increased. Single fare increased to 50 rubles or 32 rubles (byTroika e-wallet). All unlimited fare are stayed.[60]
2017-01-01
35–55 rubles
All ticket fares increased. Single fare increased to 55 rubles or 35 rubles (by Troika e-wallet). All |-unlimited fare are stayed.
2018-01-02
36–55 rubles
Single fare increased by 1 ruble, only while paying by Troika e-wallet. 90 minutes fare increased from 54 to 56 rubles.
2019-01-02
38–55 rubles
Single fare increased by 2 rubles, while paying Troika card. 90 minutes tickets increased by 3 rubles.
2019-12-09
38–55 rubles
4 of 10 railway lines included in metro fare; central zone does not require (0–2 zones), surburbian +7RUR (but 7 RUR is difference only, 2–3 zones cost 23 RUR as earlier)
2020-02-01
40–57 rubles
fares increased by 2 rubles, season tickets stayed. Also opened Ostafievo in zone 5 that caused to lower some fares is you set as destation and course of another ticket
2020-04-21
40 rubles
Till 2020-06-09 COVID-19 restriction: single fare tickets are eliminated, bank cards disabled till 9 June, some discount ticked also blocked (dates non shown)
The Passenger Mobility Center was created within the Moscow Metro in October 2013 to aid passengers with reduced mobility, encompassing individuals with hearing or visual impairments, mobility limitations, senior citizens, large families, and parents with strollers.[61] Today, the PMC staff escorts passengers at the metro, MCC, MCD, buses and trams.
Since its inception, PMC has assisted over 1.15 million passengers with reduced mobility.[62] In 2023, PMC staff escorted approximately 70,000 passengers, representing a 9% increase compared to 2022.[61]
In 2013, the Moscow Metro started to develop the new principles ofwayfinding, including a redesigned metro map. Today, these principles have been applied to all of Moscow Transport. The new system is characterized by the following features:
The single font of the Moscow Transport – Moscow Sans
More concise and comprehensible signage
Geographical maps across the city that includes information on surrounding streets and landmarks
Use of easily understandable pictograms instead of words (e.g., line numbers)
Assignment of numbers to each metro exit
Floor signage on stations
Accessibility information for passengers with reduced mobility
Digital wayfinding screens above the doors in the newest train models
A standardized design for temporary announcements[63]
In 2020, the Moscow Metro introduced Aleksandra, achatbot that has since become the official chatbot for all types of urban transport in Moscow. As of February 2024, Aleksandra has answered over 6.8 million questions and is equipped to respond to over 58,000 inquiries related to Moscow's urban transport system.[65]
On 8 January 1977, a bomb was reported to have killed 7 and seriously injured 33. It went off in a crowded train between Izmaylovskaya and Pervomayskaya stations.[66] Three Armenians were later arrested, charged and executed in connection with the incident.[67]
A fatal accident occurred on 17 February 1982 due to anescalator collapse at theAviamotornaya station on theKalininskaya Line. Eight people were killed and 30 injured due to a pileup caused by faulty emergency brakes.[69]
In 1996, an American-Russian businessmanPaul Tatum was murdered at the Kiyevskaya Metro station. He was shot dead by a man carrying a concealed Kalashnikov gun.[70]
On 8 August 2000, a strong blast in a Metro underpass at Pushkinskaya metro station in the center of Moscow claimed the lives of 12, with 150 injured. A homemade bomb equivalent to 800 grams ofTNT had been left in a bag near a kiosk.[71]
On 6 February 2004, an explosion wrecked a train between theAvtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya stations on theZamoskvoretskaya Line, killing 41 and wounding over 100.[72]Chechen terrorists were blamed. A later investigation concluded that aKarachay-Cherkessian resident had carried out asuicide bombing. The same group organized another attack on 31 August 2004, killing 10 and injuring more than 50 others.
On 25 May 2005,a citywide blackout halted operation on some lines. The following lines, however, continued operations: Sokolnicheskaya, Zamoskvoretskaya fromAvtozavodskaya toRechnoy Vokzal, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya, Filyovskaya, Koltsevaya, Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya fromBitsevskiy Park toOktyabrskaya-Radialnaya and fromProspekt Mira-Radialnaya toMedvedkovo, Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya, Kalininskaya, Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya fromSerpukhovskaya toAltufyevo and Lyublinskaya fromChkalovskaya toDubrovka.[73] There was no service on the Kakhovskaya and Butovskaya lines. The blackout severely affected the Zamoskvoretskaya and Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya lines, where initially all service was disrupted because of trains halted in tunnels in the southern part of city (most affected by the blackout). Later, limited service resumed and passengers stranded in tunnels were evacuated. Some lines were only slightly impacted by the blackout, which mainly affected southern Moscow; the north, east and western parts of the city experienced little or no disruption.[73]
Site of construction pile incident on next day after event (2006)
On 19 March 2006, a construction pile from an unauthorized billboard installation was driven through a tunnel roof, hitting a train between theSokol andVoikovskaya stations on theZamoskvoretskaya Line. No injuries were reported.[74]
On 29 March 2010, two bombs exploded on theSokolnicheskaya Line, killing 40 and injuring 102 others. The first bomb went off at theLubyanka station on theSokolnicheskaya Line at 7:56, during the morning rush hour.[75] At least 26 were killed in the first explosion, of which 14 were in the rail car where it took place. A second explosion occurred at thePark Kultury station at 8:38, roughly forty minutes after the first one.[75] Fourteen people were killed in that blast. TheCaucasus Emirate later claimed responsibility for the bombings.
On 25 January 2014, at 15:37 a construction pile from aMoscow Central Circle construction site was driven through a tunnel roof betweenAvtozavodskaya andKolomenskaya stations on theZamoskvoretskaya Line. The train operator applied emergency brakes, and the train did not crash into the pile. Passengers were evacuated from the tunnel, with no injures reported. The normal line operation resumed the same day at 19:50.[76]
On 15 May 2025, a bas-relief wall panel depictingJoseph Stalin was installed in the connecting passage between the twoTaganskaya stations. An earlier version of this sculpture at this location was removed in 1966, and Stalin himself was removed from the relief during thede-Stalinization campaign in the 1950s. Russian human rights activistYan Rachinsky wrote that "amongStalin’s victims were more than 750 construction workers and employees of the Moscow Metro. More than 140 were executed, including the subway’s first director, Petrikovsky (his name appears in a Stalinist execution list dated August 20, 1938). There’s no mention of these people anywhere in the subway today, but the man responsible for their deaths is honored with a life-sized statue."[79]
Conspiracy theorists have claimed that a second and deeper metro system code-named "D-6",[80][better source needed] designed for emergency evacuation of key city personnel in case of nuclear attack during theCold War, exists under military jurisdiction. It is believed that it consists of a single track connecting theKremlin, chief HQ (General Staff –Genshtab), Lubyanka (FSB Headquarters), the Ministry of Defense and several other secret installations.[citation needed] There are alleged to be entrances to the system from several civilian buildings, such as theRussian State Library,Moscow State University (MSU) and at least two stations of the regular Metro. It is speculated that these would allow for the evacuation of a small number of randomly chosen civilians, in addition to most of the elite military personnel. A suspected junction between the secret system and the regular Metro is supposedly behind theSportivnaya station on theSokolnicheskaya Line. The final section of this system was supposedly completed in 1997.[81]
The Moscow Metro is the central location and namesake for theMetro series, where during anuclear war, Moscow's inhabitants are driven down into the Moscow Metro, which has been designed as afallout shelter, with the various stations being turned into makeshift settlements.[82]
In 2012, an art film was released about a catastrophe in the Moscow underground.[83]
^abГолоса в метро.Official blog of Moscow Metro (in Russian). 26 November 2010. Archived fromthe original on 24 January 2015. Retrieved22 January 2015.
^Lawrence, David (1994).Underground Architecture. Harrow: Capital Transport.ISBN1-85414-160-0.
^Michael Robbins, "London Underground and Moscow Metro,"Journal of Transport History, (1997) 18#1 pp 45–53.
^Gordon W. Morrell, "Redefining Intelligence and Intelligence-Gathering: The Industrial Intelligence Centre and the Metro-Vickers Affair, Moscow 1933,"Intelligence and National Security (1994) 9#3 pp 520–533.
^First Metro map. Retrieved from"Archived copy". Archived fromthe original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved19 February 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link).
^Isabel Wünsche, "Homo Sovieticus: The Athletic Motif in the Design of the Dynamo Metro Station,"Studies in the Decorative Arts (2000) 7#2 pp 65–90
^Andrew Jenks, "A Metro on the Mount,"Technology & Culture (2000) 41#4 pp 697–723
^Voyce, Arthur (January 1956). "Soviet Art and Architecture: Recent Developments".Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Russia Since Stalin: Old Trends and New Problems.303:104–115.doi:10.1177/000271625630300110.JSTOR1032295.S2CID144177034.
^abCooke, Catherine (1997). "Beauty as a Route to 'the Radiant Future': Responses of Soviet Architecture".Journal of Design History. Design, Stalin and the Thaw.10 (2):137–160.doi:10.1093/jdh/10.2.137.JSTOR1316129.
^abBowlt, John E. (2002). "Stalin as Isis and Ra: Socialist Realism and the Art of Design".The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts. Design, Culture, Identity: The Wolfsonian Collection.24:34–63.doi:10.2307/1504182.JSTOR1504182.
^abcDamsky, Abram (Summer 1987). "Lamps and Architecture 1930–1950".The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts.5 (Russian/Soviet Theme):90–111.doi:10.2307/1503938.JSTOR1503938.
^O'Mahoney, Mike (January 2003). "Archaeological Fantasies: Constructing History on the Moscow Metro".The Modern Language Review.98 (1):138–150.doi:10.2307/3738180.JSTOR3738180.S2CID161592843.
Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1936),"Moscow's underground",Railway Wonders of the World, pp. 894–899 illustrated contemporary description of the Moscow underground
Sergey Kuznetsov/ Alexander Zmeul/ Erken Kagarov:Hidden Urbanism: Architecture and Design of the Moscow Metro 1935–2015. Berlin 2016,ISBN978-3869224121.
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