HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Moscow Central Circle or MCC (russian: Московское центральное кольцо, МЦК), designated Line 14 and marked in a strawberry red/white color is a orbital urban/metropolitan rail line that encircles historical
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
. The line is rebuilt from the
Little Ring of the Moscow Railway The Little Ring of the Moscow Railways (MK MZD, russian: Малое кольцо Московской Железной Дороги), is a orbital railway in Moscow. Built between 1902 and 1908 as ''MOZD'' (''Moscow Encircle Railway'', russian: ...
, opened to passengers on 10 September 2016 (The author incorrectly refers to the system as "light rail", even as she correctly identifies the rolling stock as
Lastochka The ''Lastochka'' (russian: Ласточка, lit=Swallow) is a German/Russian commuter intercity electric multiple unit train used across multiple Russian cities, based on the Siemens Desiro design and manufactured by Siemens and Ural Locomotive ...
, which is a standard railway trainset)
and is operated by the
Moscow Government The Government of Moscow (russian: Правительство Москвы) is the highest executive body of state authority of Moscow. The Government of Moscow is headed by the highest official of the city of Moscow, i.e. the Mayor of Moscow. T ...
owned company MKZD through the
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first unde ...
, with the state-run
Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...
selected as the operation subcontractor. The infrastructure, trackage and platforms are owned and managed by
Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...
, while most station buildings are owned by MKZD.


History

The railroad was commissioned in 1897 under the auspices of Emperor
Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...
, thus earning a "Royal Railroad" nickname. The planning took five years. Thirteen design alternatives were reviewed in the process. The winning bid was for a four-track rail line, with two tracks allocated for freight, and the other two used by passenger trains. The project came with an estimated 40 million
ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...
price tag. In May 1902, construction began. Following a defeat in the 1905
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
, construction was scaled back. As the costs overran the estimate by a third, the number of tracks being built was reduced to two. Bridges, of which there are 35 (4 big and 31 small), were particularly costly. Their low clearance hindered electrification efforts for over a century to come. The vast railroad infrastructure included housing facilities, water towers, smithies, and miscellaneous shops. Station houses — architectural masterpieces built in the typical early-20th-century Russian industrial style — had electricity. Heat was provided by masonry heaters, some of which were Russian-made, and some imported from Holland. Station clocks were purchased from Swiss manufacturer Paul Buhré. Known for their accuracy, these clocks, for a while, became the city's de facto time standard. * Only one such clock has survived. It is located in Presnya station supervisor's office. The first train ran in 1907. On 19 July 1908, the railroad officially opened. The opening ceremony was attended by the Czar, Royal Dynasty members, and government and city officials. In the first few months, the railroad was used exclusively for passenger traffic. Due to a high train fare — at 3.40 rubles — ridership was virtually non-existent, and the line brought in the total of 132 rubles in revenue since the operation started. Thus, on 10 October 1908, passenger trains were discontinued in favor of freight service. Between
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and the
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
of 1917, the passenger service was restored, although freight remained the only viable revenue source. By the late 1920s, other forms of public transportation had emerged and in 1934, passenger service was ended — a year before the introduction of Moscow Metro. The break from passenger use took almost a century — it took over 80 years of Moscow's growth and development to reintroduce the railroad to its initial role.


Development

Around 2010, many millions of people used the city's subway system daily. Some 35-40% used private transportation, leading to severe road congestion. Upgrade plans for the railway line were signed by
Russian Railways Russian Railways (russian: link=no, ОАО «Российские железные дороги» (ОАО «РЖД»), OAO Rossiyskie zheleznye dorogi (OAO RZhD)) is a Russian fully state-owned vertically integrated railway company, both manag ...
and the
Moscow Government The Government of Moscow (russian: Правительство Москвы) is the highest executive body of state authority of Moscow. The Government of Moscow is headed by the highest official of the city of Moscow, i.e. the Mayor of Moscow. T ...
between 2008 and 2011 with consent of
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
(
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
at the time). Construction work planned for 2013–2016 would convert the Little Ring line of the Moscow Railway for joint passenger and freight use but in 2012, at a meeting with new Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev ( rus, links=no, Дмитрий Анатольевич Медведев, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪdˈvʲedʲɪf; born 14 September 1965) is a Russian politician who has been serving as the dep ...
in
Odintsovo Odintsovo ( rus, Одинцово, , ɐdʲɪnˈtsovə) is a city and the administrative center of Odintsovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia. Western suburb of Moscow. Population: History The village of Odintsovo was established in the late ...
, Moscow Mayor
Sergey Sobyanin Sergey Semyonovich Sobyanin (russian: link=no, Сергей Семёнович Собянин; born 21 June 1958) is a Russian politician, serving as the 3rd Mayor of Moscow since 21 October 2010. Sobyanin previously served as the Governor of ...
acknowledged that trains on the circle railway would not be fully ready until 2020. The required work included: * Electrification of the whole line with 3 kV DC overhead wires and the construction of substations * Complete track replacement with additional third track on the northern half of the circle * Construction of new passenger stations and rehabilitation of old yards * Construction of Podmoskovnaya depot for
EMU The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the genus '' Dromaius''. The emu ...
trains * Construction of an additional second track and station upgrades on the northern section of the
Greater Ring of the Moscow Railway The Greater Ring of the Moscow Railway (russian: Большое кольцо Московской железной дороги) is the common name for a system of connector lines between the railways that radiate from Moscow. The general config ...
(a large orbital line outside the city), for re-routing freight traffic away from central Moscow * Replacement for most bridges and overpasses * New
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can b ...
specifically designed for urban service * Construction of transfers with existing and under construction
Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a metro system serving the Russian capital of Moscow as well as the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki in Moscow Oblast. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first unde ...
stations Construction commenced in 2012, and passenger services began in the third quarter of 2016. During the reconstruction of the railway, many of the original passenger stations were re-purposed for passenger use and complemented with new stations.


Opening and operation

The line opened on 10 September 2016 in the presence of President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin. The line was free to ride for the first month of operation. By the end of 2016, the daily ridership on the Central Circle Line was expected to reach 400,000 and by 2025, the ring railway is expected to carry up to 300 million passengers annually. The operation of the Central Circle is similar to the
S-Train The S-Bahn is the name of hybrid urban-suburban rail systems serving a metropolitan region in German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit systems, while smaller ones often resemble c ...
systems in Germany and other countries. Ticketing on the Moscow Central Circle is fully integrated with the Moscow Metro; the same payment cards (such as the
Troika card The Troika card (russian: Тройка, ''Troika'') is a contactless reusable card designed to pay for public transport in Moscow. It is the centrepiece of the new ticketing menu introduced in Moscow on April 2, 2013. Fare options Passenge ...
) can be used on both systems, and free transfers are possible within 90 minutes since the first entry into the system, in a way similar to the transfers between the Metro proper and the Moscow Monorail. The line serves the purpose of a connector between the different radial lines of outer Moscow, much as the Koltsevaya Line does in inner Moscow. 130 trains per day circulate around the line, with an interval of 5–6 minutes during the rush hours, and 10–15 minutes at other times. The line's hours of operation are the same as the rest of the Metro, from 06:00 until 01:00. The time for one orbital ride is around 87 minutes. Despite its name, the Moscow Central Circle is not perfectly circle-shaped. The line stretches outward in the north and draws as close as to the Kremlin in the south. Its connected to Rokossovsky Boulevard metro station, northern end of Line 1; yet it's also connected to Sportivnaya metro station of Line 1 on the south - which is closer to Kremlin than Line 1's ''Vorobyovy Gory'' metro station situated on Moscow river. Another circle line,
Bolshaya Koltsevaya line The Bolshaya Koltsevaya line (russian: Большая кольцевая линия), known in English as the Big Circle Line, designated Line 11 and 11A is an under construction rapid transit line of the Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a ...
(an extension of Line 11/Kakhovskaya Line) is under construction, but will instead stretch to the south. It was estimated 1,5 million people lived near the line in the early 21st century. File:ES2G evening trip on MCC.webm, thumbtime=6:27, Evening trip on the ES2G train. Short review of train interiors and three stations — Okruzhnaya, Delovoy Tsentr and Luzhniki File:Moscow Ring Railway full trip - view from ES2G train.webm, thumbtime=3:19, Full trip on the line (clockwise direction). Views of inner side. On the preview the Andronovka yard is shown File:ES2G-037 and ES2G-026, Okruzhnaya.webm, thumbtime=2:02, Arrival and departure of ES2G trains at Okruzhnaya Station


Stations

The Central Circle Line has 31 stations. The line working hours are over 1,5 hours shorter than other lines. First trains leaving terminal stations between 5:45 and 5:55. Last trains coming to terminal stations between 1:00 and 1:15. Headways are 4 minutes in pre, peak and post-peak hours and 8 minutes in early day, midday and late day. Direct transfers to other lines marked with icon, representing a passenger interchanging under a roof. Walking distance is given for free out-of-station transfers. Free transfer between MCC and metro stations requires the first rail journey before transfer to be done within 88 minutes.Бесплатные пересадки Московского центрального кольца
MCC official Facebook group
All trains stop on all stations. Shelepiha platform.jpg, Shelepiha Station File:MCC 10DELO 7600 DIST.jpg, Delovoy Tsentr Station, adjacent to International Business Center Станция МЦК «Лужники» (сентябрь 2016).jpg, Luzhniki Station MCC Ploschad Gagarina.jpg, Ploshchad Gagarina Station


Rolling stock

The line is operated by 61 Siemens ES2G ''Lastochka'' trains from Podmoskovnaya depot (trains with numbers from 012 to 072). Andronovka, Belokamennaya, Likhobory and Presnya MK MZD yards also serves as depots. File:ES2G-050.jpg, Electric multiple-unit ES2G-050 approaching Shelepikha station File:ЭС2Г-012.jpg, ES2G trains at the depot


References


External links


Moscow Metro MCC page

Official company website
{{Moscow Metro, line14=yes Moscow Metro lines Railway loop lines Railway lines opened in 2016 2016 establishments in Russia Railway lines in Russia Moscow Railway