DESCRIPTION
Moscow developed from years 30s one of the world most extended metro network (about 340 km), which an extraordinary transport capacity. The metro system is mostly underground, except for Lines 1, 2 and 4 that cross River Moscova on a bridge (the same situation where Line 1 crosses River Yauza) and for Filyovskaya (Line 4) that has a long ground level section (from Kievskaya to Molodyozhnaya).
The network is based on some main radial lines, integrated and connected by a circle line (Koltsevaya, Line 5, opened at the beginning of years '50s). It's curious to remember that the remarkable deepth of Arbatskaya line (L3, Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya) was motivated by its potential nuclear shelter function during the cold war.
The first line, Sokolnicheskaya (Line 1) opened in 1925, followed by a segment (Sokol-Teatralnaya) of Zamoskvoretskaya (Line 2) and a section (Arbatskaya-Kurskaya) of Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line (Line 3). These initial stretches were extended during the Second World War; in this period metro temporally hosted the Council of Ministers (at Mayakovskaya stop, Line 2), besides being used as air-raid shelter. After the war, another line opened (Line 5 or Koltsevaya, which was closed into a ring in 1954 in order to connect each other all the radial lines), as well as some crucial developments of the third line Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya (like the very deep section from Ploshchad Revolyutsii to Kievskaya and its ground level extension towards Pervomaiskaya). The former (more superficial) track from Ploshchad Revolyutsii to Kievskaya was included in a new line (Line 4, Filyovskaya) that opened in 1958, as well as Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya Line (Line 6), which hovever reached the current configuration (connecting Oktyabrskaya to Prospekt Mira) after the fusion (1971) of 2 different stretches opened in 1958 and 1962. In 1966 it was completed another line (Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya, Line 7), the busiest of the whole network serving high density residential districts, followed 13 years later (1979) by a further line (Kalininskaya, Line 8), connecting Perovo (eastern side) to the central area.
Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya (Line 9, running north-south of Moscow) opened in 1983, followed in 1995 by the 2 most recent lines of the network: Lyublinskaya (Line 10) and Kakhovskaya (Line 11). Line 10 brought new interchange stops in addiction to the ones along the ring line as well as an important connection to the southern districts of Marino and Lyublino; Line 11 (which had to become the first short section of a new external circle line, to be completed in long term plans) provided important connections to the motorways going southwards to the Caucasus (Kashirskaya stop) and towards Ukraine and Crimea (Varshavskaya stop). All Kakhovskaya (Line 11) stops were built in 1969 being part of Zamoskvoretskaya line (Line 2), before being detached and forming a new line. Since 26 February 2018, Ramenki-Petrovskiy Park section is operated as Line 8A, sharing tracks with the new Line 11.
With the new century, previous plans for new light metro lines (mostly on viaduct with short trains and stops) reached the executive phase; the main scope was to connect suburban areas to existing radial lines with lower costs than traditional metro lines. In 2003 the first line of this kind (Butovskaya Light Metro Line/BLLM, Line 12) opened; its track extends Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line (Line 9) towards southern areas, with an initial underground section (in order to assure an efficient interchange with Line 9) followed by an elevated section up to Buninskaya Alleya terminal. Because of some technical and financial troubles (final costs resulted much higher than initial forecasts) and due to an often negative attitude showed by many passengers and residents towards this system, plans for new Light Metros lines were abandoned (see in particular Solntsevskaya Light Metro Line or SLLM project, which was suspended when it was in an advanced planning phase).
A recent addiction to the main network is the first monorail line (M1, from Ul. Sergeya Eyzenshteyna to Timiryazevskaya), opened in 2004; the track concept is to connect Line 9 (Timiryazevskaya stop) and Line 6 (Vystavochniy Sentr stop, close to Line 6 VDNKH Exhibition Center stop); another potential interchange stop with a future northern extension of Line 10 could be located between Ul Milashenkova and Teletsentr M1 stops. M1 passes through an important residential district and has a remarkable stop at VDNKH exhibition center. Due to technical and financial reasons, M1 future closure or shortening is seriously considered.