The history of changes in the Moscow tram network from the 1980s to the 2000s shows how city authorities were negating the importance of tram-based transporty. From the 1980s onwards, authorities sacrificed tram lines in favor of motorization and highway construction. This article is part of the research project „A Longitudinal Perspective on Moscow Public Transport System Development and Factors of Change, 1985–2016″ (IfL, 2024).
Major changes in the tram system
In the early 1980s, new tram lines were opened in the Strogino area, and a large program for the construction of new lines was adopted, but nothing was implemented due to constant changes in city government. In 1988, the plans were abandoned. Tram line closures started to take place: In 1987, for example, the line near the Dynamo plant was closed. Instead, the plant administration expanded its territory to increase production, athough they later faced the issue of transporting workers to the plant. In 1991, the church appropriated the territory of the tram turning loop on Zatsepskaya square near Paveletsky Rail Station, where trams used to turn around the church.
In the early 1990s, the number of available trams vehicles decreased due to the termination of deliveries of Czechoslovakian Tatra cars, forcing Moscow to switch to Russian KTM vehicles. However, passengers did not feel this impact as sharply as with buses: Only a few duplicate routes were canceled, and two-car trains were replaced by single-car trains, so the intervals increased only slightly.
Car-oriented development in the 1990s and 2000s as the main factor of change
In the 1990s, the level of motorization in Moscow increased. City planners and the mayor believed that it was necessary to widen highways and build multi-level interchanges. Where tram tracks interfered, lines were dismantled. This construction of new roads was initiated by then-mayor Yuri Luzhkov, who earned the nickname „The Lord of the Rings“ for his circular highway projects.
The largest road construction project of the 1990s-2000s was the Third Transport Ring. Traffic lights and intersections on reconstructed streets that were included in it were eliminated. As a result, the bus and trolleybus routes were preserved, but direct turns were removed. Tram lines located on widened streets or crossing them were closed. Also, public transport was not allowed onto new sections of roads.
Mosgortrans did not interfere with this process much: for example, tram drivers were happy with the closure of the line on Maslovka, fed up with the traffic jams there. During the ring road construction process, the tram line on Begovaya Street that connected the Krasnopresnenskoye depot was removed. As a result, instead of a depot with narrow gates, where new cars could not pass, Mosgortrans received a modern new depot in Strogino.
In total, 11 sections of tram lines were closed from 1985 to 2008 to make way for new roads and buildings. The length of tram tracks was reduced from 466 km (single-track count) by almost 50 km — more than 10%. When sections of lines were removed, routes were shortened, so that their total number remained almost unchanged.
Moscow Tram Renaissance after 2008
Thanks to the efforts of tram enthusiasts, measures were implemented to improve the speed and reliability of routes.
In the early 2000s, as tram lines were being closed, city activists created the „Muscovites for Tram“ committee. They organized street rallies and engaged with city planners, advocating for the preservation and development of the tram network. Mosgortrans began to take their recommendations into account, implementing various changes to enhance the speed and attractiveness of tram transport. For example, in 2008, the head of Mosgortrans, Petr Ivanov, launched a tram line reconstruction program, which included the removal of paving on isolated lines. This prevented cars from using tram tracks to bypass traffic jams, ensuring trams were no longer affected by congestion.
Today, many former committee members have become well-known transport planners and consultants.
Tram enthusiasts also began working in Mosgortrans, initiating the construction of bi-directional trams, which enabled the reopening of the line on Lesnaya Street in 2012. Following the change of mayor in 2010, no further tram lines were closed, and the fleet was completely replaced with new low-floor cars.
List of changes in the tram network (According to the numbering on the map)
Opening of new lines:
● 0 – To the new residential area Strogino, 1981-1982
● 8 – Due to the closure of the adjacent line, 1999
Closing lines
● Due to the construction new apartment blocks:
○ 1, 2 – 1985
● Due to the construction of new roads, multi-level interchanges and street widening:
○ 3 – 1986
○ 5 – 1992
○ 6 – 1995
○ 7 – 1999
○ 9 – 2000, 2002, 2004 (3 stages)
○ 10 – 2002
● Due to a fire at the Dynamo plant and the subsequent annexation of the street to the plant’s territory:
○ 4 – 1987
Reopening:
● 11 – The line on Lesnaya street was closed in 2008 due to the construction of an office building on the site of the loop. It was reopened in 2012 using double-ended carriages without loop, under different city management
About the author
Aleksandr Zelentsov is a researcher of urban transport history and a transport planner from Moscow, Russia. Since 2004, he has held various positions, ranging from route timekeeper to head of the Moscow route network planning department (2020–2022). From July 15 to October 14, 2024, he was an IfL fellow as part of the CoMoDe project.