Moscow Metro reports highest ridership figures in months

Passengers are returning to the Moscow Metro as COVID-19 restrictions ease

Ridership on the Moscow Metro exceeded six million, according to First Deputy CEO of the network Roman Latypov. He announced the figure at a UITP webinar, which incidentally is the largest level of ridership since October 2020.

Muscovites and residents of the Moscow Region are slowly returning to public transport as pandemic restrictions are gradually being lifted. According to the city’s Department of Transport, the fastest recovering transport is MCD (Moscow Central Diameters) – its ridership has recovered by almost 90 percent.

As restrictions are eased in different place around the world, different results are emerging. Some would no doubt have been concerned at the data coming out of Sydney, where public transport use remained low, despite restrictions being fairy loose for some time. Yet these figures coming out of Moscow, which possesses one of the world’s biggest and busiest transport networks, will make for encouraging reading for authorities and operators worldwide. Clearly the route to pre-pandemic ridership levels is not a straightforward one, but there will now be hope for authorities in the UK and Europe looking to claw back some of their losses as restrictions ease there in the next few months.

Aside from the increased ridership levels, Moscow Metro passengers can personalize their Troika card with their photo and name. Troika users can do this via the Moscow Metro mobile app, in Moscow Metro gift shops or on its website (shop.mosmetro.ru).

According to the authority, passengers have the opportunity to choose one of nine designs, though it says this number will constantly grow. In order to save the card balance, Troika owners can transfer the money from their older card via Moscow Metro app. More than 1000 passengers have reportedly applied for their individual Troika card in just one week.