Moscow Metro

Moscow Metro
Московский метрополитен
Moskovsky metropoliten
Mosmetro.svg
Info
Locale Moscow
Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast
Transit type Metro
Number of lines 12
Number of stations 182
Daily ridership 6.55 million (average, 2009), 8.95 million (highest in 2009) [1]
Chief executive Dmitry Gayev
Operation
Began operation 15 May 1935
Operator(s) Moskovsky Metropoliten
Technical
System length 301.2 kilometres (187.2 mi)[2]
Track gauge 1,520 mm (4 ft 11 5⁄6 in)
Average speed 41.55 kilometres per hour (25.82 mph)

The Moscow Metro (Russian: Московский метрополитен, Moskovsky metropoliten) is a rapid transit system that serves Moscow, Russia and the neighbouring city of Krasnogorsk, Moscow oblast.

Opened in 1935 with one 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. Currently, Moscow Metro has 182 stations. Its route length is 301.2 kilometres (187.2 mi). The system is mostly underground, with the deepest sections located at 60 metres (200 ft) below ground.

Moscow Metro is the world's second most heavily used rapid transit system after Tokyo's twin subway.[3]

Contents

Description of the Metro

An unofficial map of the Moscow Metro

The Moscow Metro is a state-owned enterprise.

The Moscow Metro has 301.2 km (187.2 mi) of route length, 12 lines, and 182 stations. The average daily passenger traffic during the year is 6.6 million passengers per day. The highest passenger traffic is highest on weekdays, when the Metro carries over 7 million passengers per day. The traffic is lower on weekends.

Each metro line is identified by an alphanumeric index (usually consisting of just a number), a name, and a colour. The voice announcements refer to the lines by name. The lines are also assigned unique colours in the maps and signs. Naming by colour is frequent in colloquial usage, except for the very similar shades of green assigned to Kakhovskaya Line (number 11), Zamoskvoretskaya Line (number 2), Koltsevaya Line (number 5) and Butovskaya Line (number L1)).

The system operates according to an enhanced spoke-hub distribution paradigm, with the majority of rail lines running radially from the centrally located downtown Moscow to the peripheral districts. The Koltsevaya Line (number 5) forms a 20 kilometres (12 mi) long ring that enables passenger travel between these spokes.

Travelers can determine the direction of the train by the gender of the announcer. On the Koltsevaya Line, a male voice indicates clockwise travel, and a female voice counter-clockwise. On the radial lines, male-voiced announcements assist travelers heading toward the center of Moscow, and a female voice assists the center-out travelers.

The signs showing the stations that can be reached in a given direction are installed on the stations.

The majority of stations and rail lines are built underground. Some lines have ground and above-ground sections. Fewer than 10% of the stations are at or above the ground level. The ground sections of the Metro include the western part of Filyovskaya Line continuing as Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line between Kievskaya and Molodyozhnaya (eight surface stations), and the Butovskaya Light Metro Line (L1) with four elevated stations. The other ground stations are Vykhino, Izmaylovskaya and Vorobyovy Gory (the latter is built into a lower level of a bridge). There are several short ground stretches, including those between the stations Avtozavodskaya and Kolomenskaya (where a new station Technopark is planned to be built), and between Tekstilshchiki and Volgogradsky Prospekt. Sokolnicheskaya, Zamoskvoretskaya and Filyovskaya) cross the Moskva River over bridges, and Sokolnicheskaya Line also crosses the Yauza River over a bridge.

The Moscow Metro is open from about 05:30 until 01:00. The precise opening time varies at different stations according to the arrival of the first train, but all stations close for entrance simultaneously at 01:00. The system is closed overnight for maintenance from 01:00 to about 05:30.

During the morning and evening rush hours, trains run roughly every 90 seconds on most lines. At other times during the day, they run at the intervals of two to three and a half minutes (120 to 210 seconds), and every six to ten minutes (360 to 600 seconds) late at night. Given the high frequency of service, no timetables are provided.

The lines of the Moscow Metro

The colours in the table correspond to the colours of the lines in the map above.

Metro lines

Index &
colour		 English transliteration Russian name First opened Latest
extension		 Length Stations
& & & & 0 0 0
z zz ФФ z 9999 99 99
01The number 1 in the red background Sokolnicheskaya Сокольническая 1935 1990.12 26.1 km 19
02The number 2 in the green background Zamoskvoretskaya Замоскворецкая 1938.09 1985 36.9 km 20
03The number 3 in the blue background Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Арбатско-Покровская 1938.03 2009 43.5 km 21
04The number 4 in the light blue background Filyovskaya Филёвская   1958.111 2006 14.9 km 13
05The number 5 in the brown background Koltsevaya Кольцевая 1950 1954 19.3 km 12
06The number 6 in the orange background Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Калужско-Рижская 1958.05 1990.01 37.6 km 24
07The number 7 in the purple background Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya Таганско-Краснопресненская 1966 1975 35.9 km 19
08The number 8 in the yellow background Kalininskaya Калининская 1979 1986 13.1 km 7
09The number 9 in the grey background Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Серпуховско-Тимирязевская 1983 2002 41.2 km 25
10The number 10 in the green yellow background Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya Люблинско-Дмитровская 1995.12 2010 23.7 km 14
11The number 11 in the teal green background Kakhovskaya Каховская   1995.112 3.3 km 3
123The word L1 in the light cyan background3 Butovskaya Бутовская 2003 5.5 km 5
Total: 301 km 182

Notes

1 – Four central stations of Filyovskaya Line – Alexandrovsky Sad (formerly Imeni Kominterna), Arbatskaya, Smolenskaya and Kiyevskaya – were originally opened in 1935/37, when they were a branch of Sokolnicheskaya Line. Between 1938 and 1953, they were part of Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. The stations were closed between 1953 and 1958 and then reopened as part of the (new) Filyovskaya Line.

A branch line of Filyovskaya Line is now in operation, as of July, 2009, starting from Alexsandrovsky Sad Station, going on Filyovskaya Line till Kiyevskaya Station, where it departs to stop at the new Vystavochnaya station (in front of the Expo Center, renamed from Delovoy Tsentr or Mezhdunarodnaya Station) and Mezhdunarodnaya Station (in front of Moscow International Business Center, renamed from Moscow City Station).

2 – All the three stations of the Kakhovskaya Line were built in 1969. Initially they were an integral part of the Zamoskovoretskaya Line until 1983, becoming a branch of it until 1995. In 1995, they were split off from the Zamoskovoretskaya Line and used to form the Kakhovskaya Line.

3 – L in L1 does not stand for Light Rail but, somewhat confusingly, for "Light Metro" — lines that are built mainly elevated and with shorter platforms. These lines, as a result, do not need expensive tunnelling and are supposed to be financially "light". However, "light" and "normal" metro lines use the same rolling stock. See Butovskaya Light Metro Line for further explanation.

The Moscow Monorail is a 4.7 km, 6 station monorail line between Timiryazevskaya and VDNKh that opened in January 2008. Before the official opening, the monorail operated in an "excursion mode" since 2004. Trains departed every 20 minutes between 8:00 and 20:05. Tickets cost four times the normal price (50 rubles, ~$2.10). Since 2008 intervals have been shortened and the price is equal to the metro ticket price.

Ticketing

In the 1970-90s, the cost of a single journey was 5 kopecks (1/20 of Soviet ruble). The cost of journeys has been steadily rising since 1991. Inflation caused the price to rise considerably to 26 Russian rubles per trip (taking into account the 1998 revaluation of the ruble by a factor of 1000). At the same time, one may get a considerable discount (up to 40%) per journey when buying a multiple-trip ticket.

Tickets are available for a fixed number of journeys, irrespective of the distance traveled and the number of transfers. Monthly and yearly passes are also available. Fare enforcement takes place entirely at the points of entry. Once a passenger has entered the Metro system, there are no further ticket checks - one can ride any number of stations and make transfers freely.

Magnetic cards were introduced in 1993 as a test and were used as unlimited tickets between 1996 and 1998. Magnetic cards (contact cards) were used as tickets with a fixed number of journeys (up to 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 60 and 70 journeys for 30 days from the day of the first journey). The sale of magnetic cards stopped January 16, 2008.

As of January 2010 one ride costs 26 rubles (88 US cents), and there are small discounts starting with 5-ride cards.

In January 2007, Moscow Metro began replacing magnetic cards with fixed number of journeys by contactless cards. Smartcards have been used in Moscow Metro since 1998 and are called Transport Cards. Transport Cards were available as 'unlimited' and 'social' tickets. The unlimited smartcard can be programmed for 30, 90, and 365 days. The social cards are free for elderly people (who are officially registered as residents of Moscow city or Moscow region) and some privileged categories of citizens; they are available to school pupils and students at a heavily reduced price (321 rubles (about $US 10 for a month of unlimited usage). Ultralight contactless cards are available in 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 60 journeys denominations.

The Moscow Metro became the first metro system in Europe to fully implement smartcards on September 1, 1998. The sale of tokens ended on January 1, 1999 and they stopped being accepted in February 1999. Magnetic cards stopped being accepted in late 2008, making Moscow metro world's first major public transport system to run fully on contactless automatic fare collection system based on NXP MIFARE technology.[4].

Fares for a single trip, 1935–2010

  1. 1935-05-15 — 50 kopecks
  2. 1935-08-01 — 40 kopecks (with season ticket — 35 kopecks)
  3. 1935-10-01 — 30 kopecks (with season ticket — 25 kopecks)
  4. 1942-05-31 — 40 kopecks
  5. 1948-08-16 — 50 kopecks*
  6. 1961-01-01 — 5 kopecks (revaluation)
  7. 1991-04-02 — 15 kopecks
  8. 1992-03-01 — 50 kopecks
  9. 1992-06-24 — 1 ruble
  10. 1992-12-01 — 3 rubles
  11. 1993-02-16 — 6 rubles
  12. 1993-06-25 — 10 rubles
  13. 1993-10-15 — 30 rubles
  14. 1994-01-01 — 50 rubles
  15. 1994-03-18 — 100 rubles
  16. 1994-06-23 — 150 rubles
  17. 1994-09-21 — 250 rubles
  18. 1994-12-20 — 400 rubles
  19. 1995-03-20 — 600 rubles
  20. 1995-07-21 — 800 rubles
  21. 1995-09-20 — 1000 rubles
  22. 1995-12-21 — 1500 rubles
  23. 1997-06-11 — 2000 rubles
  24. 1998-01-01 — 2 rubles (revaluation)
  25. 1998-09-01 — 3 rubles
  26. 1999-01-01 — 4 rubles
  27. 2000-07-15 — 5 rubles
  28. 2002-10-01 — 7 rubles
  29. 2004-04-01 — 10 rubles
  30. 2005-01-01 — 13 rubles
  31. 2006-01-01 — 15 rubles
  32. 2007-01-01 — 17 rubles
  33. 2008-01-01 — 19 rubles
  34. 2009-01-01 — 22 rubles
  35. 2010-01-01 — 26 rubles

*Not taking into account 10X denomination of 1947. In fact, fare became 10 times larger.

History

Soviet Government's resolution to construct the Moscow Metro

The first plans for a metro system in Moscow date back to the times of the Russian Empire. These plans were postponed by World War I, the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War. It was not until June 1931 that the decision to start construction of the Moscow Metro was taken by the Central Committee of the USSR Communist Party.

The first lines were built under the Moscow general plan designed by Lazar Kaganovich in the 1930s, and the Metro was initially (until 1955) named after him ("Metropoliten im. L.M. Kaganovicha").[5]

The builders of Moscow Metro consulted with their colleagues from the London Underground, the world's oldest metro system. Partly because of this connection the design of Gants Hill tube station, although not completed until much later, is reminiscent of many stations of the Moscow Metro.[6][7]

First stage

The first line from Okhotny Ryad to Smolenskaya was opened to public on 15 May 1935 at 07:00.[8] The line was 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long and included 13 stations. It connected Sokolniki to Park Kultury.[9] The latter branch was further extended westwards to the new station Kiyevskaya in March 1937, the first Metro line crossing of the Moskva River by the Smolensky Metro Bridge.

The construction of the first stations was based on the existing underground systems, and only a few original designs were allowed: Krasniye Vorota, Okhotniy Ryad and Kropotkinskaya. Kiyevskaya station was the first to use national motifs.

On 14 May 1935, the Komsomol was awarded the Order of Lenin by Stalin's suggestion for the contribution of the Komsomol members to construction of the first Metro stage.[10]

Second stage

The second stage was completed before the war. In March 1938 the Arbatskaya branch was split in two and extended to Kurskaya station (now the dark-blue Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line). In September 1938 the Gorkovskaya Line opened between Sokol and Teatralnaya. Here the architecture was based on the most popular of the stations already in existence (Krasniye Vorota, Okhotnyi Ryad and Kropotkinskaya) and the compositions followed the popular art deco style, though merging it with socialist visions. The first deep level Column station Mayakovskaya was built at the same time.

Third stage

Building work on the third stage was delayed but not interrupted during World War II, and two Metro sections were put into service: Teatralnaya - Avtozavodskaya (3 stations, crossing the Moskva river in a deep tunnel) and Kurskaya - Partizanskaya (4 stations) were inaugurated in 1943 and 1944 respectively. War motifs replaced socialist visions in the architectural design of the stations.

During the Siege of Moscow, in the autumn and winter of 1941, metro stations were used as air-raid shelters and the Council of Ministers moved its offices to the platforms of Mayakovskaya, where Stalin made public speeches on several occasions. Chistiye Prudy station was also walled off and the headquarters of the Air Defence installed there.

Fourth stage

After the war, construction started on the fourth stage of the Metro, which included the Koltsevaya Line and a deep part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line from Ploshchad Revolyutsii to Kievskaya, and a surface extension to Pervomaiskaya in the early 1950s. The exquisite decoration and design of so much of the Moscow Metro is considered to have reached its peak in these stations.

The Koltsevaya Line was planned first as a line running under the Garden Ring, a wide avenue encircling the borders of Moscow's city centre. The first part of the line - from Park Kultury to Kurskaya (1950) - follows this avenue. But later plans were changed and the northern part of the ring line deviates 1–1.5 kilometres (0.62–0.93 mi) outside the Sadovoye Koltso, thus providing service for 7 (out of 9) rail terminals. The next part of the Koltsevaya line opened in 1952 (Kurskaya - Belorusskaya) and in 1954 the ring line was completed.

During the Cold War

The beginning of the Cold War led to the construction of a deep part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line. The stations on this line are very deep and were planned as shelters in the event of nuclear war. After finishing the line in 1953, the upper tracks between Ploshchad Revolyutsii and Kiyevskaya were closed and later reopened in 1958 as a part of the Filyovskaya Line. 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".

During the late 1950s, the architectural extravagance of new metro stations was significantly toned down, and decorations at some stations, like VDNKh and Alexeyevskaya, were greatly simplified compared with original plans. This was done on the orders of Nikita Khrushchev, who favoured a more spartan decoration scheme. A typical layout (which quickly became known as "Sorokonozhka" - "Centipede", which comes from the fact that early designs had 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 of these stations were built with simplified, cheaper technologies which were not always quite suitable and resulted in extremely utilitarian design. For example, walls paved with cheap and simplistic ceramic tiles proved to be susceptible to vibrations caused by trains, with some tiles eventually falling off. It was not always possible to replace the missing tiles with the ones of the same color, which eventually led to infamous "variegated" parts of the paving. Not until the mid-1970s was the architectural extravagance restored, and original designs once again became popular. However, newer design of "centipede" stations, with 26 columns with wider ranges between them and more sophisticated, continued to dominate.

Recent developments

Time evolution of the number of stations.

Since the turn of the century, several projects have been completed, and more are underway. The first one was the Annino-Butovo extension, which consisted of extending the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line from Prazhskaya to Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya (2000), Annino (2001) and Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo (2002). Afterwards a new elevated Butovskaya Light Metro Line was inaugurated in 2003.

Another major project was the reconstruction of the Vorobyovy Gory station, which initially opened in 1959 was forced to close in 1983 after the concrete used to build the bridge was found to be defective. After many years, the station was rebuilt and re-opened in 2002.

A more recent major project included building a branch off the Filyovskaya Line to the Moscow International Business Center. This included Delovoy Tsentr (2005) and Mezhdunarodnaya, opened in 2006.

After many years of building the long-awaited Lyublinskaya Line extension was inaugurated with Trubnaya in August 2007, with Sretensky Bulvar in December of that year.

The major Strogino-Mitino extension began with Park Pobedy in 2003. Its first stations, an expanded Kuntsevskaya and Strogino opened in January 2008, and Slavyansky Bulvar followed them in September. Myakinino, Volokolamskaya and Mitino were opened in December 2009. Myakinino station was built in a mode of state-private financial partnership. It is an unique case in history of the Moscow Metro.[11]

In June 2010 the Lyublinskaya Line was extended by Dostoyevskaya and Maryina Roscha stations.

Newest stations:

Kuntsevskaya (2008)

Strogino (2008)

Slavyansky Bulvar (2008)

Myakinino (2009)

Volokolamskaya (2009)

Mitino (2009)

Dostoyevskaya (2010)

Maryina Roshcha (2010)

The system

Ulitsa Gorchakova station on the Butovskaya Line
81-740/741 train, on the left, is the newest train in the Metro

The Moscow Metro uses the Russian gauge of 1,520 millimetres (60 in), like ordinary Russian railways, and an underrunning third rail with a supply of 825 V DC. The average distance between stations is 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi), the shortest (502 metres (1,647 ft) long) section being between Vystavochnaya and Mezhdunarodnaya and the longest (6,627 metres (21,742 ft) long) between Krylatskoye and Strogino. Long distances between stations have the positive effect of a high cruising speed of 41.7 kilometres per hour (25.9 mph).

Since the very beginning, platforms have been built to be at least 155 metres (509 ft) long, so as to accommodate eight-car trains. The only exceptions are several stations of the Filyovskaya Line: Vystavochnaya, Mezhdunarodnaya, Studencheskaya, Kutuzovskaya, Fili, Bagrationovskaya, Filyovsky Park, Pionerskaya, which only allow six-car trains (note that this list includes all ground-level stations of the line except Kuntsevskaya).

Trains on Zamoskovretskaya, Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya, Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya, Kalininskaya, Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya and Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya lines consist of eight cars, on Sokolnicheskaya and Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya lines of seven cars or of five articulated 81-740/741 cars and on Koltsevaya and Kakhovskaya lines of six cars. Filyovskaya Line used to have six cars trains as well, but now it is operated by four car articulated 81-740/741 trains. Rolling stock on the Koltsevaya and Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya lines is being replaced with four-car and five-car Rusich trains. Butovskaya Line (Light Metro) was designed to its own standards and has shorter (96 metres (315 ft) long) platforms. It employs articulated 81-740/741 trains, which consist of three cars, though the line can also be served by traditional four-car trains.

The Moscow metro comprises 182 stations, out of which 73 are deep-level, and 88 are shallow. Of the deep stations, 52 are pylon-type, 18 are column-type and one is "single-vault" (Leningrad technology). The shallow stations comprise 63 of the pillar-type (a large portion of them following the infamous "sorokonozhka" design), 20 "single-vaults" (Kharkov technology) and three single-decked. In addition there are 11 ground-level stations and four above ground. Two of the stations exist as double halls, and two have three tracks. Five of the stations have side platforms (only one of them-subterranean). The station Vorobyovy Gory is on a bridge. Three other metro bridges exist but are covered or hidden. In addition, there are two closed stations and one that is derelict.

There are also four stations, reserved for future service: Volokolamskaya of Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line, Delovoy Tsentr stations of Kalininskaya and Solntsevskaya lines and Park Pobedy of Solntsevskaya line.

Moscow Metro Statistics

Moscow Metro is one of the busiest metro systems in the world.
Passengers (2009) 2,392,200,000 passengers[12]
— privileged category 912,600,000 passengers
—— pupils and students 239,000,000 passengers
Maximum daily ridership 8,952,000 passengers
Revenue from fares (2005) 15.9974 billion rubles
Total lines length 292.9 kilometres (182.0 mi)
Number of lines 12
Longest line Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line (41.2 kilometres (25.6 mi))
Shortest line Kakhovskaya Line (3.3 kilometres (2.1 mi))
Longest section Strogino–Krylatskoye (6.7 kilometres (4.2 mi))
Shortest section Delovoy Tsentr–Mezhdunarodnaya (502 metres (1,647 ft))
Number of stations 177
— transfer stations 60
— transfer points 27
— surface/elevated 15
Deepest station Park Pobedy (84 metres (276 ft))
Most shallow underground station Pechatniki
Station with the longest platform Vorobyovy Gory (Metro) (282 metres (925 ft))
Number of stations with a single entrance 70
Number of turnstiles with automatic control on entrances 2374
Number of stations with escalators 124
Number of escalators 631
— including Monorail stations 18
Total length of all escalator 65.4 kilometres (40.6 mi)
Number of depots 15
Total number of train runs per day 9915
Average speed:  
— commercial 41.71 kilometres per hour (25.92 mph)
— technical (2005) 48.85 kilometres per hour (30.35 mph)
Total number of cars (average per day) 4428
Cars in service (average per day) 3397
Annual run of all cars 722,100,000 kilometres (448,700,000 mi)
Average daily run of a car 556.2 kilometres (345.6 mi)
Average passengers per car 53 people
Longest escalator 126 metres (413 ft) (Park Pobedy)
Total number of ventilation shafts 393
Number of local ventilation systems in use 4965
Number of medical assistance points (2005) 46
Total number of employees 34792 people
— males 18291 people
— females 16448 people
Timetable fulfilment 99.96%
Minimum average interval 90 sec
Average passenger trip 13 kilometres (8.1 mi)

Metro 2

Yauza train (operates on Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya and Kakhovskaya lines)

It has been alleged that a second, deeper metro system designed for emergency evacuation of key city personnel in case of nuclear attack during the Cold War exists under military jurisdiction. It is believed that it consists of a single track and connects the Kremlin, chief HQ (General Staff - 'Genshtab'), Lubyanka (FSB Headquarters) and the Ministry of Defence, as well as numerous other secret installations. Possibly, there are also entrances to the system from several civilian buildings such as the Russian 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 regular Metro is behind the station Sportivnaya of the Sokolnicheskaya Line. The final section of this system was completed in 1997.[13]

Incidents

Bombing of 1977

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.[14][15] Three Armenians were later arrested, charged and executed in connection with the incident.[16]

Station fires of 1981

In June 1981, seven bodies were seen being taken out of Oktyabrskaya station during a fire at the station. A fire was also reported at Prospekt Mira station around that time.[17]

Escalator accident of 1982

A fatal accident took place on 17 February 1982 due to an escalator collapse at the Aviamotornaya station of the Kalininskaya Line. 8 people were killed and 30 were injured, due to the pile-up caused by the faulty emergency brakes.[18]

Bombing of 2004

On 6 February 2004, an explosion wrecked a train between Avtozavodskaya and Paveletskaya stations on Zamoskvoretskaya Line of the Metro, killing 39 and wounding over 100.[19] Chechen terrorists were blamed. Later investigation concluded that a Karachay-Cherkessian resident, an Islamic militant, had committed a suicide bombing.

Moscow blackout of 2005

On 25 May 2005, a city-wide blackout halted operation on some lines. The following lines continued operations: Sokolnicheskaya, Zamoskvoretskaya from Avtozavodskaya to Rechnoy Vokzal, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya, Filyovskaya, Koltsevaya, Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya from Bitsevskiy Park to Oktyabrskaya-Radialnaya and from Prospekt Mira-Radialnaya to Medvedkovo, Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya, Kalininskaya, Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya from Serpukhovskaya to Altufyevo, Lyublinskaya from Chkalovskaya to Dubrovka.[20] Trains did not run on Kakhovskaya and Butovskaya lines. Blackout most heavily affected Zamoskvoretskaya and Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya lines where initially all traffic has been disrupted due to some trains halted in tunnels at south part of city which has been most affected by blackout. Later, parts of these lines resumed operation in limited mode and people from trains stopped in tunnels were evacuated. Some lines did not suffer much from blackout since blackout mainly affected south part of Moscow while north, east and west parts were less affected or not affected at all.[20]

Billboard incident of 2006

On 19 March 2006, a construction pile from an unauthorized billboard installation was driven through the roof of the tunnel hitting a train between the Sokol and Voikovskaya stations on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. No injuries were reported.[21]

Bombing of 2010

Main article: 2010 Moscow Metro bombings

On 29 March 2010, two bombs exploded on the Sokolnicheskaya Line. The first bomb went off at the Lubyanka station on the Sokolnicheskaya Line at 7:56 during the morning rush hour.[22] Reports suggest 39 people have been killed and 64 wounded. At least 24 were killed in the first explosion, out of which fourteen were in the train carriage where the first explosion took place.

A second explosion happened at the Park Kultury station at 8:38, roughly forty minutes after the first one.[22] Fourteen people are reported dead in this explosion.

An islamophobia rise happened immediately after the bombing carried out by Islamic extremists.[23]

2010 summer heat wave

The fog on the Ulitsa Podbelskogo station

In the mid-July Moscow was impacted by a severe heat wave. The temperature in the Metro has risen to as high as 34 °C (93 °F)[24]. Furthermore, conflagration of the peat forests surrounding the city started and it led to Moscow as well as the Metro being blanketed by deadly carbon monoxide smoke.[25][26]

Expansion plans

Current

Presently, the Moscow Metro has a set of expansion goals that are due to be achieved by 2015. Major projects include:

According to plans of the Moscow city government and Russia's transport ministry, announced in September 2008, by 2015 79 kilometres (49 mi) new lines, 43 new underground stations and 7 metro depots should be added to the system.

Distant projects

It is unknown when and if these will be built, but nonetheless plans do exist for them:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Moscow Metro numbers (official site, in Russian) http://www.mosmetro.ru/pages/page_0.php?id_page=99
  2. ↑ Moscow Metro numbers (official site, in Russian) http://www.mosmetro.ru/pages/page_0.php?id_page=99
  3. ↑ "Moscow Subway System Second Only to Tokyo in Usage". VOA. 2010-03-29. http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Moscow-Subway-System-Second-Only-to-Tokyo-in-Usage--89392252.html. Retrieved 2010-04-01. 
  4. ↑ "Moscow Metro: the World’s First Major Transport System to operate fully contactless with NXP’s MIFARE Technology". NXP Semiconductors. http://www.nxp.com/news/content/file_1518.html. Retrieved 2009-01-26. 
  5. ↑ Metro.ru Original order on naming the Metro after Kaganovich. Retrieved October 19, 2007
  6. ↑ http://www.pootergeek.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/gants_hill.jpg
  7. ↑ Lawrence, David (1994). Underground Architecture. Harrow: Capital Transport. ISBN 185414-160-0. 
  8. ↑ Sachak (date unknown). История создания Московского метро (History of Moscow Metro). Retrieved from http://sachak.chat.ru/istoria.html.
  9. ↑ First Metro map. Retrieved from http://www.metro.ru/map/1935/metro.ru-1935map-big1.jpg.
  10. ↑ Библиотека / Как мы строили метро / Постановление ЦИКа о награждении орденом Ленина Московской организации ВЛКСМ
  11. ↑ «Крокус» сдал «частную» станцию метро (Russian)
  12. ↑ Official Metro statistics
  13. ↑ Metro 2 at www.Metro.ru
  14. ↑ "Новости подземки" (in Russian). Lenta.ru. 22 December 2003. http://lenta.ru/articles/2003/12/22/metro/_Printed.htm. Retrieved 15 October 2007. 
  15. ↑ "Terrorism: an appetite for killing for political purposes". Pravda.ru. 11 September 2006. http://english.pravda.ru/print/world/americas/84373-terrorism-0. Retrieved 19 October 2007. 
  16. ↑ "Взрыв на Арбатско-Покровской линии в 1977г." (in Russian). metro.molot.ru. http://metro.molot.ru/crash_izm.shtml. Retrieved 31 August 2010. 
  17. ↑ "7 Die in Moscow Subway Fire". UPI (The New York Times). 12 June 1981. http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/12/world/7-die-in-moscow-subway-fire.html. Retrieved 19 March 2010. 
  18. ↑ "Авария эскалатора на станции "Авиамоторная"" (in Russian). metro.molot.ru. http://metro.molot.ru/crash_avia.shtml. Retrieved 31 August 2010. 
  19. ↑ "Взрыв на Замоскворецкой линии" (in Russian). metro.molot.ru. http://metro.molot.ru/crash_zamoskv2.shtml. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Grashchenkov, Ilya (25 May 2005). "Как работает московское метро. Список закрытых станций" (in Russian). Yтро.ru. http://pda.utro.ru/articles/2005/05/25/441638.shtml. Retrieved 18 March 2010. 
  21. ↑ Moscow Metro Tunnel Collapses on Train; Nobody Hurt
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "38 killed in Moscow metro suicide attacks". RTÉ. 2010-03-29. http://rte.ie/news/2010/0329/russia.html. Retrieved 2010-03-29. 
  23. ↑ "Islamophobia on the rise after Moscow Metro attacks". AsiaNews. http://asianews.it/view4print.php?l=en&art=18060. Retrieved 25 June 2010. 
  24. ↑ "Температура воздуха в московском метро достигла 34 градусов" (in Russian). RIA Novosti. 5 August 2010. http://pda.rian.ru/hs_news/20100805/262092746.html. Retrieved 7 August 2010. 
  25. ↑ "Fog from peat fires blankets Moscow amid heat wave". BBC. 26 July 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10762921. Retrieved 7 August 2010. 
  26. ↑ "Дым от подмосковных лесных пожаров добрался до столичного метро" (in Russian). NEWSru.com. 4 August 2010. http://txt.newsru.com/russia/04aug2010/pozhary.html. Retrieved 7 August 2010. 
  27. ↑ http://metro.molot.ru/img/genplan_71.gif
  28. ↑ http://www.metro.ru/map/1989/metro.ru-1989map-big3.gif

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