Editing Moscow Metro (section)

==History==
{{See also|Expansion timeline of the Moscow Metro}}
[[File:Постановление о создании метрополитена. 1932 год.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]] resolution to construct the Moscow Metro|alt=Typewritten document on yellowing paper, with handwritten notes]][[File:Stamp 1935 496.jpg|thumb|1935 Soviet stamp marking the opening of the first Moscow metro line]]

{{Multiple image
| image1   = Moscow Kropotkinskaya vestibule 07-2016.jpg
| caption1 = Vestibule of the [[Kropotkinskaya]] station in 2016, with the official name of the metro "V.I. Lenin Metro" (Метрополитен имени В.И. Ленина)
| image2   = Станция метро «Дворец Советов», 1935.jpg
| caption2 = The same vestibule in 1935, with the previous name of the metro: "L.M. Kaganovich Metro" (Метро им. Л.М. Кагановича)
}}

The first plans for a metro system in Moscow date back to the [[Russian Empire]] but were postponed by [[World War I]], the [[October Revolution]] and the [[Russian Civil War]]. In 1923, the Moscow City Council formed the Underground Railway Design Office at the Moscow Board of Urban Railways. It carried out preliminary studies, and by 1928 had developed a project for the first route from Sokolniki to the city centre. At the same time, an offer was made to the German company Siemens Bauunion to submit its own project for the same route. In June 1931, the decision to begin construction of the Moscow Metro was made by the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]. In January 1932 the plan for the first lines was approved, and on 21 March 1933 the Soviet government approved a plan for 10 lines with a total route length of {{convert|80|km|abbr=on}}.

The first lines were built using the Moscow general plan designed by [[Lazar Kaganovich]], along with his project managers (notably Ivan M. Kuznetsov and, later, Isaac Y. Segal) in the 1930s–1950s, and the Metro was named after him until 1955 ''({{lang|ru-Latn|Metropoliten im. L.M. Kaganovicha}})''.<ref name="Kaganovich name"/> The Moscow Metro construction engineers consulted with their counterparts from the [[London Underground]], the world's oldest metro system, in 1936: British architect [[Charles Holden]] and administrator [[Frank Pick]] had been working on the station developments of the [[Piccadilly Line]] extension, and Soviet delegates to London were impressed by Holden's thoroughly modern redeployment of classical elements and use of high-quality materials for the circular ticket hall of [[Piccadilly Circus tube station|Piccadilly Circus]], and so engaged Pick and Holden as advisors to Moscow's metro system.<ref name="Wilson2018">{{cite book |first=Vicky|last=Wilson |title=London's Oddities |publisher=Metro Publications Ltd |year=2018 |page=310 |isbn=978-1-902910-53-6}}</ref> Partly because of this connection, the design of [[Gants Hill tube station]], which was completed in 1947, is reminiscent of a Moscow Metro station. Indeed, Holden's homage to Moscow has been described as a gesture of gratitude for the USSR's helpful role in [[World War II|The Second World War]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pootergeek.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/gants_hill.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=20 October 2008 |archive-date=25 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325143602/http://www.pootergeek.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/gants_hill.jpg |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author=Lawrence, David |title=Underground Architecture |publisher=Capital Transport |location=Harrow |year=1994 |isbn=1-85414-160-0}}</ref>

Soviet workers did the labour and the art work, but the main engineering designs, routes, and construction plans were handled by specialists recruited from London Underground. The British called for tunnelling instead of the "[[cut-and-cover]]" technique, the use of [[escalators]] instead of lifts, the routes and the design of the rolling stock.<ref>Michael Robbins, "London Underground and Moscow Metro," ''Journal of Transport History,'' (1997) 18#1 pp 45–53.</ref> The paranoia of the [[NKVD]] was evident when the secret police arrested numerous British engineers for [[espionage]] because they gained an in-depth knowledge of the city's physical layout. Engineers for the [[Metropolitan-Vickers|Metropolitan-Vickers Electrical Company]] (Metrovick) were given a [[show trial]] and deported in 1933, ending the role of British business in the USSR.<ref>Gordon W. Morrell, "Redefining Intelligence and Intelligence-Gathering: The Industrial Intelligence Centre and the Metro-Vickers Affair, Moscow 1933," ''Intelligence and National Security'' (1994) 9#3 pp 520–533.</ref>

{{Clear}}

===First four stages of construction===
[[File:Женская бригада во время грандиозного строительства московского метрополитена.jpg|thumb|Women's construction brigade led by Tatyana Viktorovna Fyodorova during construction of the second line of the Moscow metro, 1936]]
The first line was opened to the public on 15 May 1935 at 07:00 am.<ref>Sachak (date unknown). [https://web.archive.org/web/20010420031732/http://sachak.chat.ru/istoria.html История создания Московского метро] (History of Moscow Metro) {{in lang|ru}}</ref> It was {{convert|11|km}} long and included 13 stations. The day was celebrated as a technological and ideological victory for [[Communism|socialism]] (and, by extension, [[Stalinism]]). An estimated 285,000 people rode the Metro at its debut, and its design was greeted with pride; street celebrations included parades, plays and concerts. The [[Bolshoi Theatre]] presented a choral performance by 2,200 Metro workers; 55,000 colored posters (lauding the Metro as the busiest and fastest in the world) and 25,000 copies of "Songs of the Joyous Metro Conquerors" were distributed.<ref name="Jenks 2000 697–724">{{cite journal |last=Jenks |first=Andrew |title=A Metro on the Mount: The Underground as a Church of Soviet Civilization |journal=Technology and Culture |date=October 2000 |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=697–724 |jstor=2517594 |doi=10.1353/tech.2000.0160|s2cid=108455892}}</ref> The Moscow Metro averaged {{convert|47|km/h|abbr=on}} and had a top speed of {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}}.<ref>[http://engl.mosmetro.ru/pages/page_0.php?id_page=99 Moscow Metro / Moscow Metro / General Information / Key Performance Indicators] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310172839/http://engl.mosmetro.ru/pages/page_0.php?id_page=99 |date=10 March 2012}}. Engl.mosmetro.ru. Retrieved on 17 August 2013.</ref> In comparison, [[New York City Subway]] trains averaged a slower {{convert|25|mph|km/h}} and had a top speed of {{convert|45|mph|km/h}}.<ref name="Jenks 2000 697–724" /> While the celebration was an expression of popular joy it was also an effective propaganda display, legitimizing the Metro and declaring it a success.

The initial line connected [[Sokolniki (Metro)|Sokolniki]] to [[Okhotny Ryad (metro)|Okhotny Ryad]] then branching to [[Park Kultury-Radialnaya|Park Kultury]] and [[Smolenskaya (Filyovskaya)|Smolenskaya]].<ref>First Metro map. Retrieved from {{cite web|url=http://www.metro.ru/map/1935/metro.ru-1935map-big1.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-02-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325143605/http://www.metro.ru/map/1935/metro.ru-1935map-big1.jpg |archive-date=25 March 2009 |df=dmy-all}}.</ref> The latter branch was extended westwards to a new station ([[Kiyevskaya (Filyovskaya)|Kiyevskaya]]) in March 1937, the first Metro line crossing the [[Moskva River]] over the [[Smolensky Metro Bridge]].

The second stage was completed before the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|war]]. In March 1938, the Arbatskaya branch was split and extended to the [[Kurskaya-Radialnaya|Kurskaya]] station (now the dark-blue [[Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line]]). In September 1938, the [[Zamoskvoretskaya Line|Gorkovskaya Line]] opened between [[Sokol (Metro)|Sokol]] and [[Teatralnaya (Moscow Metro)|Teatralnaya]]. Here the architecture was based on that of the most popular stations in existence (Krasniye Vorota, Okhotnyi Ryad and Kropotkinskaya); while following the popular art-deco style, it was merged with socialist themes. The first [[Deep column station|deep-level column station]] [[Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Mayakovskaya]] was built at the same time.

Building work on the third stage was delayed (but not interrupted) during [[World War II]], and two Metro sections were put into service; [[Teatralnaya (Moscow Metro)|Teatralnaya]]–[[Avtozavodskaya (Zamoskvoretskaya Line)|Avtozavodskaya]] (three stations, crossing the Moskva River through a deep tunnel) and [[Kurskaya-Radialnaya|Kurskaya]]–[[Partizanskaya (Metro)|Partizanskaya]] (four stations) were inaugurated in 1943 and 1944 respectively. War motifs replaced socialist visions in the architectural design of these stations. During the [[Battle of Moscow|Siege of Moscow]] in the fall and winter of 1941, Metro stations were used as air-raid shelters; the [[Council of Ministers of the USSR|Council of Ministers]] moved its offices to the [[Mayakovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Mayakovskaya]] platforms, where Stalin made public speeches on several occasions. The [[Chistye Prudy (Metro)|Chistiye Prudy]] station was also walled off, and the headquarters of the Air Defence established there.

After the war ended in 1945, construction began on the fourth stage of the Metro, which included the [[Koltsevaya Line]], a deep part of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line from [[Ploshchad Revolyutsii]] to [[Kievskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya)|Kievskaya]] and a surface extension to [[Pervomaiskaya (closed)|Pervomaiskaya]] during the early 1950s. The decoration and design characteristic of the Moscow Metro is considered to have reached its zenith in these stations. The [[Koltsevaya Line]] was first planned 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 (Koltsevaya Line)|Park Kultury]] to [[Kurskaya (Koltsevaya Line)|Kurskaya]] (1950) – follows this avenue. Plans were later changed and the northern part of the ring line runs {{convert|1|-|1.5|km}} outside the Sadovoye Koltso, thus providing service for seven (out of nine) rail terminals. The next part of the Koltsevaya Line opened in 1952 (Kurskaya–[[Belorusskaya-Koltsevaya|Belorusskaya]]), and in 1954 the ring line was completed.

==== Stalinist ideals in Metro's history ====
{{see also|Stalinist architecture}}{{stack|1=
[[File:Metro MSK Line1 Kropotkinskaya.jpg|thumb|[[Kropotkinskaya]] station, [[Sokolnicheskaya line|Line 1]]. Opened in 1935 (the first stage)]]
[[File:Metro_Krasnye_Vorota.jpg|thumb|[[Krasnye Vorota (Moscow Metro)|Krasnye Vorota]], also opened in 1935 (the first stage) as part of Line 1]]
}}{{external media
|float = left
|video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTDQ62dSMjg Moscow Metro opening, Soviet Archive Footage]
}}
When the Metro opened in 1935, it immediately became the centrepiece of the transportation system (as opposed to horse-carried barrows still widely used in 1930s Moscow). It also became the prototype, the vision for future Soviet large-scale technologies. The artwork of the 13 original stations became nationally and internationally famous. For example, the [[Teatralnaya (Moscow Metro)|Sverdlov Square]] subway station featured porcelain bas-reliefs depicting the daily life of the Soviet peoples, and the bas-reliefs at the Dynamo Stadium sports complex glorified sports and physical prowess on the powerful new ''"[[Homo Sovieticus]]"'' (Soviet man).<ref>Isabel Wünsche, "Homo Sovieticus: The Athletic Motif in the Design of the Dynamo Metro Station," ''Studies in the Decorative Arts'' (2000) 7#2 pp 65–90</ref> The metro was touted as the symbol of the new social order{{snd}}a sort of Communist cathedral of engineering modernity.<ref>Andrew Jenks, "A Metro on the Mount," ''Technology & Culture'' (2000) 41#4 pp 697–723</ref>[[File:Moscow MayakovskayaMetroStation 0943.jpg|thumb|[[Mayakovskaya]] station, [[Zamoskvoretskaya line|Line 2]]. Opened in 1938 (the second stage)]][[File:Moscow Elektrozavodskaya metro station asv2018-09.jpg|thumb|[[Elektrozavodskaya (Moscow Metro)|Elektrozavodskaya]] station, [[Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line|Line 3]]. Opened in 1944 (the third stage)]]

The Metro was also iconic for showcasing [[Socialist realism|Socialist Realism]] in public art. The method was influenced by [[Nikolay Chernyshevsky]], [[Lenin]]'s favorite 19th-century [[Nihilist movement|nihilist]], who stated that "art is no useful unless it serves politics".<ref name="Jenks 2000 697–724" /> This maxim sums up the reasons why the stations combined aesthetics, technology and ideology: any plan which did not incorporate all three areas cohesively was rejected.
* ''Kaganovich was in charge; he designed the subway so that citizens would absorb the values and ethos of Stalinist civilization as they rode. Without this cohesion, the Metro would not reflect Socialist Realism. If the Metro did not utilize Socialist Realism, it would fail to illustrate Stalinist values and transform Soviet citizens into socialists. Anything less than Socialist Realism's grand artistic complexity would fail to inspire a long-lasting, nationalistic attachment to Stalin's new society.''<ref>{{cite journal |last=Voyce |first=Arthur |title=Soviet Art and Architecture: Recent Developments |journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science |date=January 1956 |volume=303 |series=Russia Since Stalin: Old Trends and New Problems |pages=104–115 |jstor=1032295 |s2cid=144177034 |doi=10.1177/000271625630300110}}</ref> 
* Socialist Realism was in fact a method, not exactly a style.<ref name="Cooke 1997 137–160" />

==== ''Bright future'' and literal brightness in the Metro of Moscow ====
The Moscow Metro was one of the USSR's most ambitious architectural projects. The metro's artists and architects worked to design a structure that embodied ''svet'' (literally "light", figuratively "radiance" or "brilliance") and ''svetloe budushchee'' (a well-lit/radiant/bright future).<ref name="Cooke 1997 137–160">{{cite journal |last=Cooke |first=Catherine |title=Beauty as a Route to 'the Radiant Future': Responses of Soviet Architecture |journal=Journal of Design History |year=1997 |volume=10 |series=Design, Stalin and the Thaw |issue=2 |pages=137–160 |jstor=1316129 |doi=10.1093/jdh/10.2.137}}</ref> With their reflective marble walls, high ceilings and grand chandeliers, many Moscow Metro stations have been likened to an "artificial underground sun".<ref name="Bowlt 2002 34–63">{{cite journal |last=Bowlt |first=John E. |title=Stalin as Isis and Ra: Socialist Realism and the Art of Design |journal=The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts |year=2002 |volume=24 |series=Design, Culture, Identity: The Wolfsonian Collection |pages=34–63 |jstor=1504182 |doi=10.2307/1504182}}</ref>

This palatial underground environment<ref name="Bowlt 2002 34–63" /> reminded Metro users their taxes were spent on materializing ''bright future''; also, [[Stalinist architecture|the design]] was useful for demonstrating the extra structural strength of the underground works (as in Metro doubling as [[bunker]]s, bomb shelters).

The chief lighting engineer was Abram Damsky, a graduate of the Higher State Art-Technical Institute in Moscow. By 1930 he was a chief designer in Moscow's Elektrosvet Factory, and during World War II was sent to the ''Metrostroi'' (Metro Construction) Factory as head of the lighting shop.<ref name="Damsky 1987 90–111">{{cite journal |last=Damsky |first=Abram |title=Lamps and Architecture 1930–1950 |journal=The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts |date=Summer 1987 |volume=5 |issue=Russian/Soviet Theme |pages=90–111 |jstor=1503938 |doi=10.2307/1503938}}</ref> Damsky recognized the importance of efficiency, as well as the potential for light as an expressive form. His team experimented with different materials (most often cast bronze, aluminum, sheet brass, steel, and milk glass) and methods to optimize the technology.<ref name="Damsky 1987 90–111" /> Damsky's discourse on "Lamps and Architecture 1930–1950" describes in detail the epic chandeliers installed in the Taganskaya Station and the Kaluzhskaia station (''Oktyabrskaya'' nowadays, not to be confused with contemporary "Kaluzhskaya" station on line 6). The work of Abram Damsky further publicized these ideas hoping people would associate the party with the idea of ''bright'' future.

{{blockquote|The Oktyabrskaya Station (originally named Kaluzhskaya) was designed by the architect [Leonid] Poliakov. Poliakov's decision to base his design on a reinterpretation of Russian classical architecture clearly influenced the concept of the lamps, some of which I planned in collaboration with the architect himself. The shape of the lamps was a torch – the torch of victory, as Polyakov put it... The artistic quality and stylistic unity of all the lamps throughout the station's interior made them perhaps the most successful element of the architectural composition. All were made of cast aluminum decorated in a black and gold anodized coating, a technique which the Metrostroi factory had only just mastered.
The Taganskaia Metro Station on the Ring Line was designed in...quite another style by the architects K.S. Ryzhkov and A. Medvedev... Their subject matter dealt with images of war and victory...The overall effect was one of ceremony ... In the platform halls the blue ceramic bodies of the chandeliers played a more modest role, but still emphasised the overall expressiveness of the lamp.<ref name="Damsky 1987 90–111"/>|Abram Damsky|Lamps and Architecture 1930–1950|multiline=true}}

====Industrialization====
[[File:Metro, thousands of sculptures of Lenin (7427587294).jpg|thumb|Statue representing the Soviet workers at [[Baumanskaya (Moscow Metro)|Baumanskaya]] station (1944)]]
[[File:MosMetro Avtozavodskaya 01-2017.jpg|thumb| [[Avtozavodskaya (Zamoskvoretskaya line)|Avtozavodskaya]] station (1943) features frescos that commemorate the USSR's [[Automotive industry|automotive]] and [[arms industry]]]]
Stalin's [[First five-year plan (Soviet Union)|first five-year plan]] (1928–1932) facilitated rapid industrialization to build a socialist motherland. The plan was ambitious, seeking to reorient an agrarian society towards industrialism. It was Stalin's fanatical energy, large-scale planning, and resource distribution that kept up the pace of industrialization. The first five-year plan was instrumental in the completion of the Moscow Metro; without industrialization, the Soviet Union would not have had the raw materials necessary for the project. For example, steel was a main component of many subway stations. Before industrialization, it would have been impossible for the Soviet Union to produce enough [[steel]] to incorporate it into the metro's design; in addition, a steel shortage would have limited the size of the subway system and its technological advancement.

The Moscow Metro furthered the construction of a socialist Soviet Union because the project accorded with Stalin's [[Five-year plans of the Soviet Union#Second plan, 1932–1937|second five-year plan]]. The Second Plan focused on urbanization and the development of social services. The Moscow Metro was necessary to cope with the influx of peasants who migrated to the city during the 1930s; Moscow's population had grown from 2.16 million in 1928 to 3.6 million in 1933. The Metro also bolstered Moscow's shaky infrastructure and its communal services, which hitherto were nearly nonexistent.<ref name="Jenks 2000 697–724" />

====Mobilization====
The [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Communist Party]] had the power to mobilize; because the party was a single source of control, it could focus its resources. The most notable example of mobilization in the Soviet Union occurred during [[Eastern Front (World War II)|World War II]]. The country also mobilized in order to complete the Moscow Metro with unprecedented speed. One of the main motivation factors of the mobilization was to overtake the West and prove that a socialist metro could surpass capitalist designs. It was especially important to the Soviet Union that socialism succeed industrially, technologically, and artistically in the 1930s, since capitalism was at a low ebb during the Great Depression.

The person in charge of Metro mobilization was [[Lazar Kaganovich]]. A prominent Party member, he assumed control of the project as chief overseer. Kaganovich was nicknamed the "Iron Commissar"; he shared Stalin's fanatical energy, dramatic oratory flare, and ability to keep workers building quickly with threats and punishment.<ref name="Jenks 2000 697–724"/> He was determined to realise the Moscow Metro, regardless of cost. Without Kaganovich's managerial ability, the Moscow Metro might have met the same fate as the [[Palace of the soviets|Palace of the Soviets]]: failure.

[[File:Kievsk APL 31.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kiyevskaya (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line)|Kiyevskaya]] (Line 3) (1954) is decorated with a series of [[mosaics]] by various artists depicting life in [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukraine]] which was then part of the Soviet Union.]]
This was a comprehensive mobilization; the project drew resources and workers from the entire Soviet Union. In his article, archeologist Mike O'Mahoney describes the scope of the Metro mobilization:

{{blockquote|A specialist workforce had been drawn from many different regions, including miners from the Ukrainian and Siberian coalfields and construction workers from the iron and steel mills of Magnitogorsk, the Dniepr hydroelectric power station, and the Turkestan-Siberian railway... materials used in the construction of the metro included iron from Siberian Kuznetsk, timber from northern Russia, cement from the Volga region and the northern Caucasus, bitumen from Baku, and marble and granite from quarries in Karelia, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Urals, and the Soviet Far East|Mike O'Mahoney|Archeological Fantasies: Constructing History on the Moscow Metro<ref>{{cite journal |last=O'Mahoney |first=Mike |title=Archaeological Fantasies: Constructing History on the Moscow Metro |journal=The Modern Language Review |date=January 2003 |volume=98 |issue=1 |pages=138–150 |jstor=3738180 |doi=10.2307/3738180|s2cid=161592843 }}</ref>|source=}}

Skilled engineers were scarce, and unskilled workers were instrumental to the realization of the metro. The ''Metrostroi'' (the organization responsible for the Metro's construction) conducted massive recruitment campaigns. It printed 15,000 copies of ''Udarnik metrostroia'' (''Metrostroi Shock Worker'', its daily newspaper) and 700 other newsletters (some in different languages) to attract unskilled laborers. Kaganovich was closely involved in the recruitment campaign, targeting the [[Komsomol]] generation because of its strength and youth.

=== Later Soviet stations ===

==== "Fifth stage" set of stations ====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = MosMetro KomsomolskayaKL img2 asv2018-01.jpg
| caption1          = [[Komsomolskaya (Koltsevaya Line)|Komsomolskaya]] station (1952), [[Koltsevaya Line|Line 5]]
| width1            = 234
| image2            = Metro_MSK_Line1_Sportivnaya_(img2).jpg
| caption2          = [[Sportivnaya (Moscow Metro)|Sportivnaya]] station (1957), Line 1 (with a "retro train")
| width2            = 234
| footer            = 
}}
The beginning of the [[Cold War]] led to the construction of a deep section of the [[Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line]]. The stations on this line were planned as shelters in the event of nuclear war. After finishing the line in 1953 the upper tracks between [[Ploshchad Revolyutsii]] and [[Kiyevskaya (Filyovskaya)|Kiyevskaya]] were closed, and later reopened in 1958 as a part of the [[Filyovskaya Line]]. The stations, too, were supplied with tight gates and life-sustenance systems to function as proper nuclear shelters.

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".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moscow Metropolitan - Страницы из метростроевской летописи и планы метростроения |url=https://news.metro.ru/letopis.html |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=news.metro.ru}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==== Nikita Khrushchev's era of cost cutting ====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Metro MSK Line1 Universitet.jpg
| caption1          = [[Universitet (Moscow Metro)|Universitet]] (1959), Line 1
| width1            = 200
| image2            = Len Prosp Antares 02.jpg
| caption2          = [[Leninsky Prospekt (Moscow Metro)|Leninsky Prospekt]] (1962), [[Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line|Line 6]]
| width2           = 200
| image3            = Molodezhnaya-mm.jpg
| caption3          = [[Molodyozhnaya (Moscow Metro)|Molodyozhnaya]] (1965), Line 3
| width3            = 200
| image4            = Metro_MSK_Line7_Polezhaevskaya.jpg
| caption4          = [[Polezhayevskaya]] (1972), [[Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line|Line 7]]. As of January 2022, the variegated walls are preserved "as is"
| width4            = 200
| footer            = 
}}

During the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the architectural extravagance of new Metro stations was decisively rejected on the orders of [[Nikita Khrushchev]]. He had a preference for a utilitarian "minimalism"-like approach to design, similar to [[Brutalist architecture|Brutalism style]]. The idea behind the rejection was similar to one used to create [[Khrushchyovka]]s: cheap yet easily mass-produced buildings. Stations of his era, as well as most 1970s stations, were simple in design and style, with walls covered with identical square ceramic tiles. Even decorations at the Metro stations almost finished at the time of the ban (such as [[VDNKh (Metro)|VDNKh]] and [[Alexeyevskaya (Metro)|Alexeyevskaya]]) got their final decors simplified: VDNKh's arcs/portals, for example, got plain green paint to contrast with well-detailed decorations and pannos around them.

A typical layout of the cheap shallow-dug metro station (which quickly became known as ''Sorokonozhka'' – "centipede", from early designs with 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 stations were built with simpler, cheap technology; this resulted in [[utilitarian design]] being flawed in some ways. Some stations such as adjacent [[Rechnoy Vokzal (Moscow Metro)|Rechnoi Vokzal]] and [[Vodny Stadion (Moscow Metro)|Vodny Stadion]] or sequiential [[Leninsky Prospekt (Moscow Metro)|Leninsky Prospect]], [[Akademicheskaya (Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line)|Akadmicheskaya]], [[Profsoyuznaya (Moscow Metro)|Profsoyuznaya]] and [[Novye Cheryomushki (Moscow Metro)|Novye Cheryomushki]] would have a similar look due to the extensive use of same-sized white or off-white ceramic tiles with hard-to-feel differences.

Walls with cheap ceramic tiles were susceptible to train-related vibration: some tiles would eventually fall off and break. It was not always possible to replace the missing tiles with the ones of the exact color and tone, which eventually led to [[wikt:variegated|variegated]] parts of the walls.

==== Metro stations of late USSR ====
{{multiple image
| align             = left
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Авиамоторная 02.jpg
| caption1          = [[Aviamotornaya (Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line)|Aviamotornaya]] (1979), [[Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line|Line 8]]
| width1           = 200
| image2            = Метро Нахимовский проспект 01.jpg
| caption2          = [[Nakhimovsky Prospekt (Moscow Metro)|Nakhimovsky Prospekt]] (1983), [[Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line|Line 9]]
| width2            = 200
| image3            = Mendeleyevskaya 07.JPG
| caption3          = [[Mendeleyevskaya]] (1988), Line 9.
| width3            = 200
| footer            = 
}}
The contrasting style gap between the powerfully decorated stations of Moscow's center and the spartan-looking stations of the 1960s was eventually filled. In the mid-1970s the architectural extravagance was partially restored. However, the newer design of shallow "centipede" stations (now with 26 columns, more widely spaced) continued to dominate. For example, [[Kaluzhskaya (Moscow Metro)|Kaluzhskaya]] "centipede" station from 1974 (adjacent to ''Novye Cheryomushki'' station) features non-flat tiles (with 3D effect utilized), and [[Medvedkovo (Moscow Metro)|Medvedkovo]] from 1978 features complex decorations.

1971 station [[Kitay-gorod (Moscow Metro)|Kitay-Gorod]] ("Ploshchad Nogina" at the time) features [[cross-platform interchange]] (Line 6 and line 7). Although built without "centipede" design or cheap ceramic tiles, the station utilizes near-[[grayscale]] selection of colors. It is to note the "southbound" and "northbound" halls of the station have identical look.

[[Babushkinskaya]] station from 1978 is a no-column station (similar to [[Biblioteka Imeni Lenina]] from 1935). 1983 [[Chertanovskaya]] station has resemblance to [[Kropotkinskaya]] (from 1935). Some stations, such as the deep-dug [[Shabolovskaya]] (1980), have the near-tunnel walls decorated with metal sheets, not tiles. [[Tyoply Stan (Moscow Metro)|Tyoply Stan]] features a theme related to the name and the location of the station ("Tyoply Stan" used to literally mean ''warm area''): its walls are covered in brick-colored ribbed panes, which look like [[Radiator (heating)|radiators]]).

Downtown area got such stations as [[Borovitskaya (Moscow Metro)|Borovitskaya]] (1986), with uncovered red bricks and gray, concrete-like colors accompanying a single gold-plated decorative pane known as "Tree of peoples' of USSR" or additional station hall for [[Tretyakovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Tretyakovskaya]] to house [[cross-platform interchange]] system between line 6 and line 8. To this day, Tretyakovskaya metro station consists of two contrasting halls: [[brutalism|brutalistic]] 1971 hall and custom design hall from 1986 reminiscent of [[Tretyakov Gallery|Tretyakovskaya Galereya]] museum located within walking distance.

{{Clear}}

=== Post-USSR stations of the modern Russian Federation ===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Rimskaya-mm.jpg
| caption1          = [[Rimskaya]] (1995), Line 10
| width1           = 200
| image2            = Метро Улица академика Янгеля 01.jpg
| caption2          = [[Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya]] (2000), Line 9
| width2            = 200
| image3            = Park Pobedy (16414761911).jpg
| caption3          = [[Park Pobedy (Moscow Metro)|Park Pobedy]] (2003), Lines 3 & 8.
| width3            = 200
| footer = Stations bults in 1990's and early 2000's
}}
* [[Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya]] station used to feature thick orange [[neon lamp]]-like sodium lights instead of regular white lights.
* [[Park Pobedy (Moscow Metro)|Park Pobedy]], the deepest station of the Moscow Metro, was built in 2003; it features extensive use of dark orange polished granite.
* [[Slavyansky Bulvar]] station utilizes a plant-inspired theme (similar to "[[Bionic architecture|bionic style]]").
* The sleek variant of aforementioned bionic style is somewhat represented in various Line 10 stations.
* [[Sretensky Bulvar]] station of line 10 is decorated with paintings of nearby memorials and locations.
* [[Strogino (Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line)|Strogino]] station has a theme of huge eye-shaped boundaries for lights; with "eyes" occupying the station's ceiling.
* [[Troparyovo]] (2014) features trees made of polished metal. The trees hold the station's diamond-shaped lights. The station, however, is noticeably dim-lit.
* [[Delovoy Tsentr (Moscow Central Circle)|Delovoy Tsentr]] (2016, MCC, overground station) has green tint.
* [[Lomonosovsky Prospekt (Moscow Metro)|Lomonosovsky Prospekt]] (Line 8A) is decorated with various [[Calculus|equations]].
* [[Olkhovaya (Moscow Metro)|Olkhovaya (2019)]] uses other plant-inspired themes (''ольха'' noun means [[alder]]) with autumn/winter inspired colours.
* [[Kosino (Moscow Metro)|Kosino (2019)]] uses [[High-tech architecture|high-tech style]] with the addition of thin LED lights.
{{multiple image
| align             = left
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = MosMetro Trubnaya asv2018-01.jpg
| caption1          = [[Trubnaya (Moscow Metro)|Trubnaya]] (2010), Line 10
| width1           = 200
| image2            = Bitsevskiy park (Moscow metro).jpg
| caption2          = [[Bittsevsky Park (Moscow Metro)|Bittsevsky Park]] (2014), [[Butovskaya line|Line 12]]
| width2            = 200
| image3            = MosMetro Okskaya (2020-01) - platform (1).jpg
| caption3          = [[Okskaya]] (2020), [[Nekrasovskaya line|Line 15]]
| width3            = 200
| footer = Stations bults in 2010's and 2020's
}}

Some bleak, bland-looking "centipedes" like [[Akademicheskaya (Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line)|Akademicheskaya]] and [[Yugo-Zapadnaya (Moscow Metro)|Yugo-Zapadnaya]] have undergone renovations in the 21st century (new blue-striped white walls on Akademicheskaya, aqualine glassy, shiny walls on Yugo-Zapadnaya).

==== Moscow Central Circle urban railway (Line 14) ====
[[File:MCC 12LUZH 7041 PLAT.jpg|thumb|alt=Large, light outdoor station|[[Luzhniki (Moscow Central Circle)|Luzhniki]] MCC station]]
[[File:ES2G-051_and_033_(2).jpg|thumb|"Lastochka" trains]]
{{main|Moscow Central Circle}}[[File:ES2G_interior_head_car.jpg|thumb|Seats in "Lastochka" trains]]A new circle metro line in Moscow was relatively quickly made in the 2010s. The Moscow Central Circle line (Line 14) was opened for use in September 2016 by re-purposing and upgrading the [[Little Ring of the Moscow Railway|Maloe ZheleznoDorozhnoe Kol'tso]]. A proposal to convert that freight line into a [[Urban rail transit|metropolitan railway]] with frequent passenger service was announced in 2012. The original tracks had been built in pre-revolutionary Moscow decades before the creation of Moscow Metro; the tracks remained in place in one piece as a non-electrified line until the 21st century. Yet the [[circle route]] was never abandoned or cut. New track (along the existing one) was laid and all-new stations were built between 2014 and 2016. MCC's stations got such amenities as [[vending machine]]s and free [[Toilet|water closets]].

Line 14 is operated by [[Russian Railways]] and uses full-sized trains (an idea, somewhat similar to [[S-Train]]). The extra resemblance to an S-Train line is, the 1908 line now connects modern northern residential districts to western and southern [[Central business district|downtown area]], with a station adjacent to [[Moscow International Business Center]].

There is a noticeable relief of congestion, decrease in usage of formerly overcrowded [[Koltsevaya line]] since the introduction of MCC. To make line 14 attractive to frequent [[Koltsevaya line]] interchanges users, upgrades over regular comfort of Moscow Metro were made. Use of small laptops/portable video playing devices and food consumption from [[tupperware]]s and [[Tub (container)|tubs]] was also improved for Line 14: the trains have small folding tables in the back of nearly every seat, while the seats are facing one direction like in planes or intercity buses - unlike side-against-side sofas typical for Metro.

Unlike [[Moscow Central Diameters|MCD lines]] (D1, D2 etc.) MCC line accepts "unified" tickets and "Troika" cards just like Moscow Metro and buses of Moscow do. Free transfers are permitted between the MCC and the Moscow Metro if the trip before the transfer is less than 90 minutes.<ref name="osi_facebook">[https://www.facebook.com/moscowcentralcircle/photos/a.203315823414583.1073741829.202965750116257/231605437252288/?type=3&theater Бесплатные пересадки Московского центрального кольца], MCC official Facebook group</ref> It's made possible by using same "''Ediny''", literally "unified" tickets instead of printing "paper tickets" used at railroads. 
* To interchange to line 14 for free, passenger must keep their freshly used ticket after entering Moscow Metro to apply it upon entering any line 14 station (and vice versa, keep their "fresh" ticket to enter underground Metro line after leaving Line 14 for an interchange).

=== MCD (D lines) ===
{{Main|Moscow Central Diameters}}
In 2019, new lines of [[Russian Railways]] got included in the map of Metro as "[[Line D1 (Moscow Central Diameters)|line D1]]" and "[[Line D2 (Moscow Central Diameters)|line D2]]". Unlike Line 14, the MCD lines actually form [[S-Train]] lines, bypassing the "vokzals", terminus stations of respective intercity railways. Line D3 is planned to be launched in August 2023, while D4 will be launched in September of that year. The schedule for the development of the infrastructure of the Central Transport Hub in 2023 was signed by the [[Moscow]] [[Mayor of Moscow|Mayor]] [[Sergey Sobyanin|Sergei Sobyanin]] and the head of [[Russian Railways]] [[Oleg Belozyorov|Oleg Belozerov]] in December 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-12-26 |title=D3 and D4 will be launch in 2023 |work=Kommersant |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/5747836}}</ref>

As for the fees, MCD accepts Moscow's "Troika" cards. Also, every MCD station has printers which print "station X – station Y" tickets on paper. Users of the D lines must keep their tickets until exiting their destination stations: their exit terminals require a valid "... to station Y" ticket's barcode.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Оплата проезда |date=2024-09-24 |url=https://transport.mos.ru/mostrans/oplata_proezda/#tab-pills-mcd |publisher=Moscow Transport Department |access-date=24 September 2024 |archive-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216232342/https://transport.mos.ru/mostrans/oplata_proezda/#tab-pills-mcd |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==== Big Circle Line (line 11) ====
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| image1            = Tekstilshchiki (Line 11) with arriving train 81-775.jpg
| caption1          = [[Tekstilshchiki (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line)|Tekstilshchiki]] (2023) with a futuristic design
| width1            = 222
| image2            = Aminyevskaya_-_station_hall_(1).jpg
| caption2          = [[Aminyevskaya (Moscow Metro)|Aminyevskaya]] (2021) in a stripy style
| width2            = 222
| image3            = Moscow CSKA metro station asv2019-06.jpg
| caption3          = [[CSKA (Moscow Metro)|CSKA]] (2018) with sport-themed frescos
| width3            = 222
| footer            = 
}}
{{Main|Bolshaya Koltsevaya line}}

After upgrading the railway from 1908 to a proper Metro line, the development of another circle route was re-launched, now adjusted for the pear-shaped [[circle route]] of line #14.

Throughout the late 2010s, Line 11 was extended from short, tiny [[Kakhovskaya line]] to a half-circle (from Kakhovskaya to [[Savyolovskaya (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line)|Savyolovskaya]]). In early 2023, the circle was finished.<ref>[https://tass.ru/info/17166917 Она имеет протяженность 70 км и насчитывает 31 станцию (&#91;The line&#93; has the length of 70 km and counts 31 station)]</ref>
* Similarly made [[Shelepikha (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line)|Shelepikha]], [[Khoroshyovskaya (Moscow Metro)|Khoroshovskaya]], [[CSKA (Moscow Metro)|CSKA]] and [[Petrovsky Park (Moscow Metro)|Petrovsky Park]] stations have lots of polished granite and shiny surfaces, in contrast to Soviet "centipedes". Throughout 2018–2021, these stations were connected to [[Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line|line 8A]].
* [[Narodnoye Opolcheniye (Moscow Metro)|Narodnoye Opolcheniye]] (2021) features lots of straight edges and linear decorations (such as uninterrupted "three stripes" style of the ceiling lights and rectangular columns).

As for the spring of 2023, the whole [[circle route]] line is up and running, forming a circle stretching to the southern near-MKAD residential parts of the city ([[Prospekt Vernadskogo (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line)|Prospekt Vernadskogo]], [[Tekstilshchiki (Bolshaya Koltsevaya line)|Tekstilshchiki]]) as opposed to the MCC's stretching towards the northern districts of Moscow. In other words, BCL "mirrors" MCC, avoiding forming a perfect circle around the city centre. While being {{Convert|70|km|abbr=on}} long, the line is now the longest subway line in the world, {{Convert|13|km|abbr=on}} ahead of the previous record holder - the line 10 of [[Beijing Subway]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://metrorailtoday.com/news/moscow-metro-launches-worlds-longest-metro-circle-line-big-circle-line-11 | title=Moscow Metro launches World's longest metro circle line - Big Circle Line 11 &#124; Metro Rail Today }}</ref>