Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced Tuesday plans to extend two of the city’s oldest metro lines, bringing transit access to nearly half a million residents in the northeastern districts and the southwestern outskirts.
The Sokolnicheskaya Line, commonly known as the Red Line, will expand northeast by 8.1 kilometers (5 miles) beyond its current Bulvar Rokossovskogo terminus.
The project features two new stations serving the Moscow State University of Civil Engineering and the Yaroslavsky District, a move expected to connect 100,000 residents and slash travel times by 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, the light-blue Filyovskaya Line will expand westward by 12 kilometers (7.5 miles), adding five new stations past the Kuntsevskaya terminal.
That branch will provide transit links to roughly 320,000 people across four municipal districts, including Skolkovo, the high-tech business area sometimes referred to as “Russia’s Silicon Valley.”
Sobyanin did not provide an official completion deadline for either extension.
Moscow’s metro system has expanded rapidly since Sobyanin took office more than 15 years ago.
