Moscow Metro Ring Line, Russia

The Moscow Metro is one of the world's busiest underground railway systems, and also one of the most extensive. However, the network is now under severe strain as nine million passengers use the 260km system every day, and there is an urgent need reduce the amount of passengers at city centre interchanges, and on the current ring line.

Far from being an ordinary railway, the stations are ornately designed, and home to a wide array of socialist realist art. The system has over 170 stationsspread across 11 conventional lines. They are spaced 1,800m apart allowing trains to attain a speed of around 42km/h (26mph) between stops.

The majority of the network is hidden deep below the streets of Moscow – there are a total of 70 deep level stations, 87 on a more shallow level, a further 10 on the surface, and four on elevation.

However, even with such an extensive network of radial lines from the city centre to the suburbs and a connecting circle line within the city centre, the Moscow Metro still needs more routes in order to meet the demands of all the outlying suburbs and provide more flexible inter-suburb connections.

THE PROJECT

The latest proposal to meet the demands of inter-suburb travel is a second ring line around Moscow. Metro President Dmitri Gayev announced in June 2006 that construction of the new ring would begin in 2007, in an attempt to provide a better system and relieve overcrowding on present routes from the centre.

After receiving approval from Moscow City Government the start date for the project has been put back to 2008, and a 12km section between Mezhdunarodnaya and Savyolovskaya will be built initially, with eight stations.

The new line is expected to be built between 3km (1.9 miles) and 5km (3 miles) further from the city centre than the present ring line, which primarily circles the centre of Moscow. It is envisaged that the new ring line will reduce the number of journeys made into the city to reach other outlying areas, providing interchanges with other lines radiating from the centre further out of the city.

The project is seen as an ambitious step, but one that is needed is needed as overcrowding is becoming a major issue.

INFRASTRUCTURE

As with the rest of the Moscow Metro, the new ring line will be built to the Russian gauge of 1,520mm, with a third rail delivering electric current to trains. The distance covered by the new ring line will be greater than the existing central ring line, which is 20km long.

It is expected that construction will start with the 12km stretch from Mezhdunarodnaya, with a connection to the Filyoyskaya Line (or Line 4), to Savyolovskaya on the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line (Line 9). There will also be a connection with Line 2 at Dinamo. As with the majority of the system, the new line will have 155m platforms capable of accommodating eight-car trains, and stations are expected to be, on average, 1,800m apart with eight stops planned for the first section of the route.

Construction is expected to cost between US$40–50m per km, with funding coming from a public private partnership where the level of investment from non-government concerns will equate to between 8–10% of the total.

In order to link up with the new ring line, the Filyovskaya line is being extended by 0.4km from Delovoi Tsentr-Mezhdunarodnaya.

ROLLING STOCK

The Moscow Metro uses two main types of metro car, the E-series and newer 81-series. They are the same as those used in other former Soviet cities, including St Petersburg, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw.

Different lines use varying lengths of train to meet the passenger demands and frequency. Lines 2, 6, 7 and 9 have the longest trains with eight cars, whilst other lines use six or seven car trains. All vehicles are 19.6m long.

As is standard throughout Russia, the Moscow Metro uses 1,520mm gauge track, but unusually for a metro system employs a third rail for AC power at 825V.

On an average day, the metro operates 9,702 trains carrying an average of 53 passengers per car.

SIGNALLING AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Moscow Metro has an unusual way of making communication to passengers simple. The public address system has two operators, one male and one female. On the ring line, the male voice denotes trains travelling clockwise, whilst the female voice announces trains travelling anti-clockwise. On the radial lines from the city centre to the suburbs, the male voice announces trains travelling towards the centre and the female voice announces trains travelling out of the centre.

Trains can travel up to a minimum of 90 seconds apart using the present signalling system and achieve a relatively high speed between stops of 42km/h. At off-peak times, train frequency can drop to between eight and ten minutes.

THE FUTURE

The new ring line is being designed to reduce overcrowding on selected lines, and will reduce the need for passengers to travel into Moscow and back out again to reach other parts of the suburbs.

Construction of the second Moscow Ring Line is behind schedule already. During 2007, Moscow City is planning to allocate 15 billion roubles for expansion of the metro system, and aiming to attract an equal amount of government funding.

As well as the Ring Line, Moscow Metro is planning to extend Line 10 from Chkalovskaya to Sretenski Bulyar and Trubnaya, while Line 3 is also due to be pushed forward from Park Pobedy to Strogino.