WEEKLY WHINE

Join the joyous Metro conquerors

There now follows a ranking of all rail services currently offered by the Moscow Metro. As a special bonus, the Moscow Monorail is also included.

1. 1 Sokolnicheskaya: The first metro line in Moscow, the Red Line services Sokolniki Park, Komsomolskaya Square, the Russian State Library, and Luzhniki Stadium.
2. 2 Zamoskvoretskaya: Another of the older lines, this one passes through the city centre and the Belorussky Rail Terminal. Stations with notable decorations include Novokuznetskaya, with ceiling mosaics depicting the industry of war.
3. 5 Koltsevaya: Commonly known as the Circle Line, this line forms a belt around the city centre and connects to nearly all other lines. Novoslobodskaya station is famous for the stained glass panels on the columns.
4. 7 Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya: This line carries more daily passengers than any other line, servicing the southeast and northwest of the city.
5. 6 Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya: The Orange Line was the first built after the Stalin era, and it services sites like the All Russia Exhibition Centre and the Russian Botanical Gardens.
6. 9 Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya: This is the second longest line in the system, but it is entirely underground, making it the second longest subway tunnel in the world after Line 5 of the Seoul subway.
7. 3 Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya: This is the second oldest, and the longest, line in the system. It connects the eastern and western suburbs, the western side having opened within the last ten years.
8. 10 Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya: The Chartreuse Line was the first completed in the post Soviet era. It runs north and south but passes east of the city centre.
9. 8 Kalininskaya: The Yellow Line was built in time for the 1980 Moscow Olympics and services Perovo in the east. A new branch in the west will service Moscow City, and the two are planned to be connected eventually.
10. 4 Filyovskaya: The branch to Moscow City has revitalised a line that was sagging in ridership. But it still has many above ground stations.
11. L1 Butovskaya: This is the first “Light Metro” line in Moscow, built to extend the southern terminus of the Grey Line into the Yuzhnoye Butovo district. Most of the line is on elevated tracks.
12. 11 Kakhovskaya: This is the shortest line and was never actually built. Instead, it was formed by redesignating the branch to Kakhovskaya as a separate line.
13. Moscow Monorail: Connects the All Russia Exhibition Centre with the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, though a tram could do the same job.