The President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin have launched the fourth Moscow Central Diameter line (MCD-4) connecting 20 districts of Moscow and 4 cities in the Moscow region.
The event was held on September 9, 2023, on the occasion of launching three transport projects in Moscow. The two officials launched the new line during a videoconference and the ceremony was also attended at by the Russian Railways CEO Oleg Belozerov and the Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov.
“Today, another serious step has been taken in the development of the Moscow Transport Hub. Everything that has been done today is for the benefit of Moscow, the Moscow Region and all the people who live in this region and come here. We are talking about millions of people without any exaggeration; millions who will now have better logistics and a better quality of life. This is a serious step forward for the economy,” Vladimir Putin said at the ceremony.
The 86 km MCD-4 is the longest line of the diameter network running across the city from West to East and connects seven central railway terminals of the Russian capital. The Kaluzhsko – Nizhegorodskaya line provides for the largest number of transfer stations – 18 with 36 options of interchanges to the metro, MCC and other diameters. Works are being carried out to open two more stations (Begovaya and Rizhskaya stations) in the future.
According to Moscow Metro, the new line will be used by 270,000 passengers per day with forecasts to meet increased demand as the infrastructure is designed to accommodate future growth in passenger traffic.
“We will continue to develop the diameter after the launch of MCD-4. We will build two Moscow city stations Begovaya and Rizhskaya, and we will acquire renew the rolling stock,” Maksim Liksutov, the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport said.
The MCD-4 is operated by EP2D and EP2DM trains which run at intervals of up to 5 – 5.5 minutes during peak hours and without interruptions during the daytime. In the future, the line will be operated by the new Ivolga 4.0 trains, the modern Russian commuter trains. The fleet of MCD-4 trains is planned to be completely renewed by 2025.
It is expected that the nearby lines of the Moscow Metro will be relieved by 9% due to the redistribution of passenger flows, while the daily passenger flow of the fourth diameter may reach 455,000 passengers.
In August 2023, Moscow inaugurated the 85 km long MCD-3 connecting the city on north-west and south-east axis.
The fourth Moscow Central Diameter is part of Moscow Transport Hub programme which covers the modernisation and development of transport system in the city and its region. The authorities are working on the MCD-5 line project which will provide the connection between the north-east part of the city at Pushkino station and south suburbs at Domodedovo station. This new line will be interconnected with the Moscow Central Circle (MCC) and Big Circle Line. The entire MCD system will operate by 2025.
Share on:
