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Moscow Metro

rapid transit system in Moscow agglomeration

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ5499 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system in the Moscow metropolitan area of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one 11-kilometre (6.8 mi) line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union.

As of September 2026, the Moscow Metro has 309 stations and 541.9 km (336.7 mi) of route length, making it the 8th-longest in the world, the longest in Europe and the longest outside China. It is also the only system in the world with three circle lines. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section 73 m (240 ft) underground at the Park Pobedy station, one of the world's deepest underground stations. It is the busiest metro system in Europe, the busiest in the world outside Asia, and is considered a tourist attraction in itself, thanks to its lavish interior decoration.

The Moscow Metro is a world leader in the frequency of train traffic, as intervals during peak hours often do not exceed 90 seconds. In February 2023, Moscow was the first in the world to reduce the intervals of metro trains to 80 seconds.

Name

The full legal name of the metro has been Moscow Order of Lenin and Order of the Red Banner of Labour V. I. Lenin Metro (Московский ордена Ленина и ордена Трудового Красного Знамени метрополитен имени В. И. Ленина) since 1955.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Moscow Metro” is rapid transit system in Moscow agglomeration. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Moscow, Metro and rapid, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1935, 2026, 2023, 1955—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1935-01-01. For this dossier, Moscow, Metro and rapid is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “rapid transit system in Moscow agglomeration” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5499. Authority coordinates are 55.750, 37.619. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1935, 2026, 2023 and 1955.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Moscow Metro”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Moscow Metro primary sources, Moscow Metro archive and Moscow research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Moscow Metro” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.