Overview
The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy and Kotelniki. It opened in 1935 with a single 11-kilometre line and 13 stations, making it the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. Today it is the busiest metro system in Europe and the busiest in the world outside Asia, and it is widely considered a tourist attraction in its own right thanks to its lavish interior decoration.
Riding it end to end is straightforward. You enter a station, pass through a turnstile by tapping or inserting a valid ticket, descend the escalator to the platform, and board the train in your direction of travel. Station names appear in both Cyrillic and Latin letters, but directional signs are in Russian only, so a working knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet helps a great deal. Each line is identified by a name, a number and a colour, and transfers between lines are marked on the maps. Note that interchange stations on different lines often have different names, which is the main navigational trap for newcomers.
Most stations open around 05:30 and all entrances close simultaneously at 01:00 for maintenance, as do the transfer corridors. Trains are exceptionally frequent: intervals during peak hours often do not exceed 90 seconds, and in February 2023 Moscow became the first city in the world to reduce metro intervals to 80 seconds. Free Wi-Fi has been available on all lines since December 2014. The system is smoke-free and alcohol consumption is prohibited.
The network
Moscow's public transport carries more than 16 million passengers a day and is covered by a single integrated ticketing system spanning the metro, suburban rail, surface transport and river boats. The metro itself is organised in a spoke-hub pattern, with most lines running radially from the centre outwards and circle lines linking them.
- Metro (Метрополитен, Metropoliten) — the core underground system, with lines numbered 1 to 17 and identified by name, number and colour. The Koltsevaya Line (Кольцевая линия, Koltsevaya liniya, line 5) is a 20-kilometre circle in the centre; the Moscow Central Circle (Московское центральное кольцо, Moskovskoye tsentralnoye koltso, line 14) forms a 54-kilometre circle and the Bolshaya Koltsevaya line (Большая кольцевая линия, Bolshaya koltsevaya liniya, line 11) a 57-kilometre circle on the middle periphery. The system is the only one in the world with three circle lines. Most of it is underground, with the deepest section 73 m below ground at Park Pobedy. The Filyovskaya, Butovskaya and Central Circle lines are at grade or mostly at grade. Line 13 is the former monorail, shut down in 2025, and the lines are still numbered as if it were there.
- MCD commuter diameters (МЦД, MTSD) — four operational lines, D1 to D4, running metro-style frequencies and charging the same fare as the metro within the central zone.
- Buses (автобус, avtobus) — the densest surface network, especially useful on the outskirts, operated by Mosgortrans.
- Electrobuses (электробус, elektrobus) — battery buses that replaced the trolleybus network, which ended in August 2020 after about 90 years; Moscow claims Europe's largest electrobus fleet, with more than 2,700 vehicles.
- Trams (трамвай, tramvay) — a small share of trips but active in several districts.
- Electric river boats (электрические речные суда, elektricheskiye rechnyye suda) — launched in 2023, with 31 vessels named after small Moscow rivers, running daily 07:00–23:00 on fixed schedules from 24 piers. Routes include Kievsky–Fili Park, ZIL–Pechatniki and Novospassky–ZIL.
- Aeroexpress (Аэроэкспресс, Aeroekspress) — dedicated airport trains, ticketed separately from the integrated network.
- Vorobyovy Gory cable car (канатная дорога, kanatnaya doroga) — links Luzhniki Stadium with a river-crossing viewing platform, with variable day-based fares.
On the metro, the upcoming station is announced by a male voice on inbound trains towards the centre (clockwise on the circle lines) and by a female voice on outbound trains (anti-clockwise on the circle lines).
Tickets & fares
Moscow uses an integrated fare system: one card can cover the metro, the Central Circle, the commuter diameters, buses, electrobuses, trams and the electric river boats. Fares below are approximate and change, so check current prices before you travel.
Since March 2022, foreign-issued Visa and Mastercard cards do not work at turnstiles, ticket windows or vending machines, and Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are likewise unusable. The realistic options are a Troika card topped up in cash, or a Russian MIR card. The virtual Troika app is unavailable on the Apple App Store and Google Play and requires a Russian phone number, so buy a physical card instead.
- Troika (Тройка, Troyka) smart card — a reloadable contactless card in use since 2013, tapped at the turnstile. It costs a 150 ₽ deposit, refundable when you return it in good condition at a ticket window. Buy it at metro ticket windows, vending machines, kiosks or Aeroexpress ticket offices. It works across all integrated transport plus Aeroexpress, the cable car, bike rental, the zoo, museums and the VDNH ice rink. Your balance expires five years after last use. It is Moscow-exclusive; St Petersburg uses the Podorozhnik card instead.
- Kosheliok / "Wallet" (Кошелёк, Koshelyok) — pay-as-you-go balance loaded onto Troika, from 10 to 10,000 ₽, with no practical expiry. The metro, Central Circle, central-zone commuter lines and surface transport cost 75 ₽ per ride; the suburban commuter zone costs 102 ₽. A "90-minute" fare of 112 ₽ covers one metro or Central Circle ride plus unlimited surface transfers within 90 minutes and is applied automatically. This is the usual recommendation for a three- to seven-day stay, since it is flexible, never expires, and any leftover balance can be spent on Aeroexpress.
- Edinyi / "Unified" (Единый, Yedinyy) — unlimited day passes covering metro, Central Circle, central-zone commuter lines, monorail, bus, electrobus, tram and electric boats. Approximate prices: 1 day 415 ₽, 3 days 800 ₽, 30 days 3,460 ₽, 90 days 8,450 ₽, 365 days 24,900 ₽. The 1- and 3-day passes activate at your first turnstile tap and must be activated within 10 days of purchase. The 60-ride version was discontinued in January 2025. An extended MCD version covering the suburban zone costs 4,450 ₽ for 30 days, 11,400 ₽ for 90 days and 33,200 ₽ for 365 days.
- TAT (ТАТ) — surface transport only: 30 days 2,250 ₽, 90 days 5,950 ₽, 365 days 18,400 ₽.
Children under seven travel free, and luggage costs 60 ₽ per piece. Aeroexpress is priced separately at roughly 550 ₽ per ride, with its own ticket windows and vending machines at each station. If you plan to ride heavily or far out, day passes can beat pay-as-you-go; for a typical central tourist making three to five rides a day, the Kosheliok wallet is usually the better default.
From the airport
Moscow has four commercial passenger airports; foreign visitors most often arrive at Sheremetyevo or Domodedovo.
- Sheremetyevo (SVO), 32 km northwest of the centre. Aeroexpress is the only rail link, running to the Belorussky Railway Terminal in the northwest of the centre with extra stops at Okruznaya, Savelovsky station and Begovaya where you can connect to the metro. Trains run every 30 or 60 minutes from 05:00 to 00:30, take 50 minutes and cost 525 ₽; keep your paper or mobile ticket for the whole journey. From Belorussky, the metro adds about 20 minutes to the centre. Bus #851 (57 ₽ for a 90-minute transfer ticket from the driver) and #949 (80 ₽) run to Rechnoy Vokzal on line 2; bus #817 (61 ₽) and #948 (85 ₽) run to Planernaya on line 7, about 40 minutes by bus plus 40 by metro. Bus #1195 (300 ₽ one way, 500 ₽ return) links terminals B and C with Khovrino metro station every 10 minutes from 06:00 to 23:30 in 20 minutes. Night bus H1 (61 ₽) runs every 30 minutes between 00:30 and 05:30 to the city centre and Yugo-Zapadnaya. Yandex Taxi to the centre costs roughly 1,000 ₽.
- Domodedovo (DME), 45 km southeast. Aeroexpress runs to the Paveletsky Railway Terminal every 30 minutes from 06:00 to 00:30, taking 50 minutes for 525 ₽ one way, plus about 20 minutes by metro to the centre. Cheaper commuter trains take 75 minutes for 120 ₽. Bus #308 (100 ₽) runs 24 hours a day to Domodedovskaya metro station on line 2, every 15 minutes (every 40 minutes between 00:00 and 06:00), taking 30 minutes, with another 40 minutes by metro to the centre. Yandex Taxi costs roughly 1,000 ₽.
- Vnukovo (VKO), 30 km southwest. Metro line 8A serves the airport directly, with a ride to the centre of just over an hour. Bus #911 and night bus #H11 run to Salaryevo metro station in 35–40 minutes for 36 ₽ with a Troika card or 55 ₽ paid to the driver, plus about 40 minutes by metro. Yandex Taxi costs roughly 1,000 ₽.
- Zhukovsky (ZIA), 40 km southeast. Bus #441э (92 ₽) runs to Kotelniki metro station in 30 to 60 minutes depending on traffic; a bus-plus-train option is detailed on the airport's official website. Yandex Taxi costs roughly 1,000 ₽.
Uber and Bolt do not operate in Russia; use Yandex Go or a pre-booked transfer instead.
Etiquette & customs
- Escalators — stand on the right and keep the left side clear for people walking up or down.
- Queuing — join the queue at ticket windows and board trains in an orderly way; let passengers off before you get on.
- Rush hour — the busiest times are 07:00–10:00 and 17:00–20:00, and the system is very crowded on weekdays. The quietest times are early morning, late evening and Sundays. If you can shift your sightseeing outside peak hours, do.
- Quiet and priority seating — keep conversations low and offer priority seats to older passengers, people with children and those with reduced mobility.
- Food, drink and smoking — the metro is smoke-free and alcohol consumption is prohibited. Bicycles are not allowed except folding bikes and children's bikes. Photography and filming are permitted without special equipment such as tripods or lights.
- Safety — every station has red and blue Emergency-Information Points (red for the emergency button, blue for information), and video surveillance and alarm systems operate throughout. Pickpocketing is a concern at crowded stations, so keep valuables secure.
Official links
Survival terms
- Метро (met-ro) — metro / subway
- Билет (bi-let) — ticket
- Линия (li-ni-ya) — line
- Вход (vkhod) — entrance
- Выход (vy-khod) — exit
- Переход (pe-re-khod) — transfer / interchange
- Поездка (po-yezd-ka) — single ride / trip
- Единый (ye-di-nyy) — day pass / unlimited pass
Buy a physical Troika card on arrival, top it up with cash, and keep a little balance on it at the end of your trip so you can spend it on the Aeroexpress back to the airport.