5 STRIKING facts about the Moscow Metro

1. The Moscow Metro is one of the busiest subways in the world.

Every day, about 9.7 million people go down the Moscow subway. Over the last 80 years, there have been more than 145 billion rides.

2. The Moscow subway is the most beautiful in the world.

Forty four of the nearly 200 Moscow Metropolitan stations are cultural heritage sites.

3. The Moscow Metro is the most precise in the world.

The Moscow Metropolitan is a global record-holder for on-time departures and arrivals. According to the Moscow transport department, its accuracy equals 99.99 percent. This is despite the fact that the interval between trains during rush hour is only 90 seconds. Impressive, huh?

4. The Moscow Metro served as a bomb-proof shelter during WWII.

During the airstrikes of World War II, the Moscow subway became a bomb-proof shelter. Half a million Russians found their shelter underground. Women and children slept in the trains carriages. When German airstrikes were especially frequent, there were operating shops, hairdressing salons, and even a library at the stations. On October 6, 1941 (the anniversary of the October Revolution), a meeting of the Moscow Soviet was held at the Mayakovskaya station, during which Joseph Stalin made a speech and announced the defeat of the fascist bloc.

5. The Moscow Metro holds annual music concerts.

Over the past five years, on May 15, underground concerts have been held in honor of the subway’s anniversary. The stations have wonderful acoustics so it’s hard to miss! Anna was a witness of such a concert at Kurskaya station this year.

+1 from interesting fact from Russia Feed…

According to one legend, at a session devoted to the stations construction, Joseph Stalin put his coffee cup on the metro map leaving a brown spot around the city center. Stalin showed the circle to the builders and ordered the construction of such a line. It is believed that this is how the circle line (Кольцевая) appeared, and that is why it has a brown color on the map.