Moscow metro network consists of 12 lines and nearly 200 stations, 44 of which are objects of social heritage. There are 11 radial lines from one end of the city to the other and connecting Circle Line (Koltsevaya line) which encicles the city center.
Most of the lines and stations are underground. However almost entirely Filevskaya line is above ground, so it can be cold aboard in winter (please, dress warm).
All metro stations are equipped with help panels which can be used to get more information about metro or to report about emergency case. Help panels are located in the middle of most of the metro stations. Also you can alert station staff in case of emergency.
On the radial lines male voice announces trains that go from the suburbs to the center and female voice announces trains that go out of the center. On the Circle line male voice is for trains that go in the CW directions, female voice is for CCW direction. However there are some areas in Moscow metro that are exceptions from this rule.
You’ll find messages about priority seats inside the metro coaches like “Seats for disabled, eldery persons, and passengers with children”. However all passengers can use these seats, but if you see that someone needs it more (eldery, disables, pregnant persons and children), please, offer your seat no matter where you are sitting.
Click here to see or dowload moscow metro map.
Please, read Moscow metro rules on the official site.
There are ticket barriers in Moscow metro. Passengers have to pay every time they enter the metro station. Find the details about tickets on this page . Also there are yellow card readers before ticket barriers which show how many available rides remain.
Metro network includes one monorail line which is not connected to the underground stations. When you change from metro stations to monorail station (from «V.D.N.Kha» to «VistavochnyTsentr», from «Timiryazevskaya» to «Timiryazevskaya») and back within 90 minutes from the moment of an entrance on station you don’t have to pay for an additional ride.
We recommend you to buy 10-ride tickets because it’s cheaper than 10 single tickets and it allows you to escape queues for tickets.
1-2 ride tickets you can buy at self-service ticket machines which are located in entrance halls of stations.
If someone offers you to buy 1-2 ride tickets while you’re standing in a queue, don’t buy it. They may be swindlers.
More about tickets here.
Metro stations are open for passengers daily from 5.30 a.m. to 1 a.m. The last train departs at 1:03 am. For more details about Moscow metro operating hours check out this page .
On some holidays (New Year night, Christmas (January, 7th) and so on) metro may work until 2 am.
GSM network covers most of the metro stations, but signal may be weak at some stations. There is free Wi-Fi connection inside the metro coaches of some lines. It’s planned to cover all lines with WiFi by the end of 2014.
The passenger traffic in Moscow metro is one of the highest in the world. The most crowded metro stations are Komsomolskaya, Kurskaya, Kiyevskaya, Paveletskaya (Circle line).
There are rush-hours in Moscow metro: from 8 a.m. till 9 a.m. (morning rush-hour) and from 6 p.m. till 7 p.m. (evening rush-hour). Sometimes in the rush hour it is possible to get on the train only after 3-4 attempts.
In the rush hour trains arrive every minute (minute and a half maybe), and at night the arrival interval is up to 5 minutes. Exception — Kalininskaya and Filevskaya lines: sometimes passengers wait for off-peak trains for 10-15 minutes.
