As Moscow’s metro turns 90, the world’s most beautiful underground rail system is growing

A historic marble plaque on the wall of Sokolniki underground station marks the opening of the Moscow metro 90 years ago. Considered the most beautiful underground railway system in the world, the metro, which opened on May 15, 1935, was designed by Lazar Kaganovich, a confidant of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. But the plaque bears no sign of that name, as our tour guide and trained engineer Daniil Shopkhoev notes. Instead, metal letters later added spell out the name V.I. Lenin, the first Soviet leader. As Moscow, Europe’s biggest city with an official population of over 13 million, marks the metro’s anniversary, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin plans to expand it further. The metro currently comprises around 472 kilometres (293 miles) of underground tracks and 302 stations, with 120 stops added since 2010. A picture on the floor of Sokolniki station shows workers digging a tunnel with drills. “The story begins here,” the caption says. No trace remains of Kaganovich, who, like many Stalinists, fell out of favour after Stalin’s death. Since 1955, the metro has borne the name of Lenin, who is said to have considered it the means of transport of the future Following Stalin’s death in 1953, his successor Nikita Khrushchev rejected the architectural extravagance of Moscow’s underground railway, imposing a more sober style. A train featuring historic carriages is travelling on the famous Number 5 circle line to mark the anniversary. A maintenance train used to check the condition of the tunnel systems and tracks can also be seen at the Polezhayevskaya station as part of a tech show. Today, the metro, which employs more than 60,000 people, is one of the most sophisticated transport systems in the world. At peak times, a train should be arriving around every minute. Around 9 million people use the metro every day, according to the operator. These palaces for the people should not only show the superiority of socialism, but also convince people that they have the most beautiful underground railway in the world Daniil Shopkhoev, tour guide, on Stalin’s wishes for the metro Passengers hurry through the palace-like underground tunnels past huge mosaics and socialist realist artworks. Metro guide Shopkhoev pauses at particularly prominent points. He leads us through the columned halls at Komsomolskaya station, and points towards the magnificent galleries above the tracks. A huge tiled mural depicts workers in clean clothes and sturdy shoes. However, according to eyewitnesses, the conditions for those building the underground railway were miserable, with the risk of collapse because of groundwater and other geological problems. Many workers died during the construction. Compared to the London Underground, the world’s oldest metro system, Budapest, Paris or Berlin, Moscow was late to the game. “Stalin wanted the metro, even if it wasn’t the first, to delight with its aesthetics. These palaces for the people should not only show the superiority of socialism, but also convince people that they have the most beautiful underground railway in the world,” says Shopkhoev. While Soviet citizens were hardly able to judge whether their metro was on par with railway systems elsewhere as they were barred from travelling abroad, Moscow’s metro remains unrivalled in many ways. The railway system was never intended to be merely functional like others, and served as a model for many metros in other Soviet republics, including the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. In Kyiv, where the similarities are clearly visible, people seek shelter in the capital’s metro stations during Russian air raids as the war launched by Moscow continues unabated after more than three years. Sandbags have been set up to protect the historic structures. The guard with a dog sculpture in the Ploshchad Revolyutsii metro station in Moscow is considered good luck. Students have come there since 1938 to rub the nose for good luck before exams. #NationalMuttDay #FunFactFriday pic.twitter.com/PCCW1hvXod — Russian Icons (@mrussianicons) July 31, 2020 Moscow’s metro also moonlights as a mega bunker system – and is even designed to provide protection in the event of a nuclear attack, with the deepest station 75 metres (246 feet) underground. At Ploshchad Revolyutsii – or Revolution Square station – a number of life-size sculptures depicting the defenders of the fatherland had to make way for the contraptions to hermetically seal the station. Unlike in Kyiv, no one in Moscow wants to think about having to seek shelter in the metro in the event of war, as residents did during World War II. Muscovites value their railway as a place to cool off in the summer heat and warm up in the winter – and as a generally safe and reliable means of transport. Even the 2010 Moscow metro suicide bombings that killed at least 40 and a fatal 2014 accident, which claimed 22 lives when train carriages derailed, did nothing to dampen its popularity. Of all metro systems in the largest former Soviet cities, Moscow’s is growing the fastest. It was only in 2020 that a ban on women driving underground trains was lifted, but today engineers are already talking about autonomous driving and driverless trains. Wi-fi and Face Pay have long been standard. Meanwhile, design continues to be a central concern, with marble as popular a building material as ever. On the new large circle line, architects have also toyed with futuristic motifs. Mayor Sobyanin says he is planning to add a further 71.4 kilometres of tracks and 31 stations by 2030 to lure even more people from the city’s congested roads to the metro.

As Moscow’s metro turns 90, the world’s most beautiful underground rail system is growing

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Opened on May 15, 1935 during the Stalinist era, the underground railway was designed to impress Muscovites with its opulence

Opened on May 15, 1935 during the Stalinist era, the underground railway was designed to impress Muscovites with its opulence