Excursions along the Moscow Central Circle. Spontaneous tour of the MCC: life hack for the curious Where does the tour of the MCC begin?

Free excursions around Moscow central ring(MCC) will be carried out for passengers daily on weekdays until October 10, 2016, according to the official portal of the mayor and government of the capital.

“On the Moscow Central Circle they launched excursion route for passengers. Muscovites and guests of the capital will be able to learn about the sights of Moscow while traveling around the MCC on the Lastochka train. The first free excursions took place on the launch day passenger traffic and were in great demand among the townspeople. On September 12, a free excursion starts from the Luzhniki transport hub at 16:00. Such educational walks on the “Swallows” will be held regularly throughout the month, from Monday to Friday,” the message says.

Driving along the MCC, Muscovites and guests of the capital will be able to see Frunzenskaya Embankment, the Moscow City complex, VDNKh, the Luzhniki sports arena, as well as nature reserve"Sparrow Hills". During the trip, tourists will be told about the history of the Moscow District railway, since its launch at the beginning of the 20th century. In total, there are about 86 architectural monuments of the Moscow Circular Railway, and all of these objects can be observed from the windows of the “Swallows”. The tour lasts approximately 84 minutes. This is the travel time of the Lastochka along the MCC, taking into account stops.

“Passengers will be told about the history of the construction of the MCC, as well as architectural objects, which will be visible from the windows as the trains move,” explained Deputy Mayor of Moscow, Head of the Moscow Department of Transport and Road Infrastructure Development Maxim Liksutov.

The excursions will begin at 16:00 at the Luzhniki transport hub.

The ceremonial launch of passenger traffic on the MCC took place on September 10, 2016, City Day. The ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.

Muscovites and guests of the capital will be able to use 26 stopping points MCC, the remaining five stops are planned to be launched before the end of 2016. According to expert estimates, the MCC will allow the transportation of about 75 million passengers in the first year of operation and 120 million people by 2020. In 2025, passenger traffic will increase to 300 million people. In total, there will be 31 stations on the ring, at 17 stations you can change to 11 metro lines, at 10 stations you can change to commuter trains. Of the 75 million people who are planned to be transported to the MCC in the first year, almost half will be metro passengers (34.5 million people), 20.2 million people - railway transport, 12.7 million - buses, 7.5 million passengers - residents of nearby houses.

MCC passengers will travel on Lastochka trains; train intervals will range from six minutes during peak hours and 11-15 minutes during off-peak times. The MCC will be fully integrated into the capital's metro system with unified ticket and tariff systems, navigation and travel rules for preferential categories of citizens: to travel on the ring, passengers will be able to use “United”, “90 minutes” and “Troika” tickets. According to the decision of Moscow Mayor S. Sobyanin, in the first month of operation of the MCC, travel along the ring will be free

In the first month, travel to the MCC will be free. That is, you can go into the metro, transfer to the central ring, and then go back down to the subway, spending just one trip. To do this, passengers need to reprogram travel tickets purchased before September 1. This can be done at the metro and monorail ticket offices, as well as at the Metro Passenger Agency and the Moscow Transport service center. The validity period of the ticket and the balance of funds will not change.

Russian Railways together with the Museum of Moscow have launched excursions around the MCC. The excursion requires you to register on the website or by phone - this is how the first problems arise for me. The link provided on the official website of the subway does not work, and the phone number for the appointment is continuously busy for the entire three hours that I try to call. “Well, I’ll go without registering,” I decide and go to the transport hub Luzhniki.

Here a second surprise awaits me. At the information desk, a huge crowd of losers like me are arguing furiously with the metro employee and proving that registering for the excursion is simply impossible. The girl politely tries to explain that registration ended yesterday and the next free day is Monday. But who in Moscow cares about the rules?

“Where is the guide, we’ll go, let me go!” - some shout. “Urgently give me the book of complaints! We arrived in half an hour from Mitino, by the way, do you even know how far it is?” - others do not calm down.

The problem cannot be solved - the number of places is limited.

Audio guide

You cannot go on a tour without registration. But I have no choice, I have to submit the text tomorrow, so I still go without registering. At the exit from the metro, two groups of 30 people each gather, the guide reads out the last names of those present and issues audio guides (you need to leave documents or 1 thousand rubles as a deposit). As it turns out later, all 60 people registered without problems, just in a different place - on the website of the Museum of Moscow, which conducts the tour. We also received an SMS notification indicating the time and place of the meeting. Lucky for them. I will have to stand behind the guide for an hour and a half and receive comments from disgruntled passengers whose exit I will block.

The journey along the MCC begins in the first carriage on the platform towards the station Gagarin Square. The tour is led by historian Larisa Skrypnik, and the second group is traveling in the next carriage.

This is my first time on the central ring, so I immediately begin to carefully study the situation. There are no complaints about the train: comfortable seats, not stuffy, large windows, only the promised Wi-Fi is missing, however, now this doesn’t bother me much.

The excursion involves almost an hour and a half journey, including industrial zones. And this is perhaps the most interesting thing.

Maria Borisova/Gazeta.Ru

Despite the fact that I was born in Moscow and have lived here all my life, I have never been to industrial zones. Cultural events on the same Ugreshskaya, about which later, do not pass, good restaurants not there either. So a trip around the MCC is an interesting opportunity to look at Moscow from a side that is unfamiliar to me.

Let's go. Outside the window you can see the building and the dome of the temple. Larisa begins her story about St. Andrew's Bridge and Komsomolsky Prospekt, where there were vegetable gardens back in the 50s of the last century. We pass an underground tunnel, a monument, and then the hospital named after. ON THE. Alekseeva, better known among the people as Kashchenko.

The first stop of the industrial zone is the station Verkhniye Kotly.

During the time of Peter I, a fourth defensive fortification appeared here, Kamer-Kollezhsky Val - a customs border that protected Moscow from the import of smuggled goods - for example, vodka.

Since quite a lot of industrial enterprises were formed around Kamer-Kollezhsky Val, where people not only worked, but also lived, they were included in the number of Muscovites, the road became much longer.

By the way, in Soviet times, a large number of enterprises were also built along this road, one of the largest was the Plant named after. Likhacheva. Construction began back in 1916, when entrepreneurs the Ryabushinsky brothers realized that cars were the future. But it was not possible to bring the matter to completion, and the plant was completed during Soviet times. In the 30s, it received the name of Stalin and began to be called “ZIS”, but after the debunking of the personality cult it was renamed the Plant named after. Likhacheva - . The view outside the window is terrifying. It’s hard to believe that this is Moscow. Larisa talks about plans for the development of this place - about the construction of new residential complexes, cultural and sports facilities. I approve.

Meanwhile I'm approaching Dubrovka. Outside the window is an industrial landscape. Once upon a time there were no high-rise buildings and industrial enterprises here, but there was the village of Kozhukhovo, famous for the famous Kozhukhovo campaign of Peter I - here the tsar tested and trained the Streletsky troops.

Here Ugreshskaya. The name seemed scary to me even when studying the list of stations. And for good reason. The place, frankly speaking, is unattractive - solid buildings of railway stations.

Ugreshskaya

The buildings located on the left have been restored - they serve the needs of the railway services, so it is impossible to get there.

The station received this name because of the Ugreshskoye highway, which leads to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery. According to legend, it was here that, moving with his army to the Kulikovo field, he saw the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which instilled in him faith in victory.

We arrive at Novokhokhlovskaya and we move to the side Nizhny Novgorod. To the left and right the landscapes are gloomy. There were once industrial zones here, some of which still exist.

Interesting fact: the territories adjacent to the Moscow Circular Railway were built up with factory enterprises, which accounted for 17% of the city's territories. Now they are being actively developed.

Because the factories have been here for decades and produced heavy machine tools, air defense equipment and refrigeration units, the ground on which they are located is saturated with mercury, phosphorus and other waste several meters deep.

Nizhny Novgorod

Just in time, Larisa begins a new story about the wind rose. It turns out that due to the fact that in Moscow the winds blow mainly from the northwest to the southeast, industrial enterprises were built in the south so that the winds would not drive exhaust from the chimneys throughout the capital.

Crossing Highway Enthusiasts, I remember history lessons about the times of the Decembrists - the Vladimirka road begins, along which prisoners were driven to hard labor in Siberia. The spectacle was very difficult - people walked for several thousand kilometers, chained to each other. At approximately the place where the station is located, they were seen off on their way when they left the city. “In Soviet times, in memory of the fact that they suffered here for the freedom of the people, moving to Siberia, the highway was named Enthusiasts,” adds the guide.

Highway Enthusiasts

Let's move on. From the station window Locomotive I see the stadium. The history of the building is interesting: in the 30s there was a “Stalinist” here, which existed until the cult of personality was debunked, then it was demolished and “Lokomotiv” was built - it was taken over and existed for almost 50 years. In 2000, a new stadium was built, which is now considered the most modern among the existing ones.

Next stop - Vladykino. I remember my school history course again. The name goes back to the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon. Here, on the territory of the Epiphany Monastery, apple orchards once grew, which were greatly loved by the bishop. This is how the station got its name.

Vladykino

Nothing reminds us that there was once a rural area here, but behind the metal fence you can see the old buildings of the ring railway.

By the way, when the road first opened, Muscovites used it as an excursion. At this station I want to get out and study the situation in detail, interesting buildings so many. Previously, there were houses for railway employees, signalmen and lamp workers. Were water towers for refueling trains, ticket offices, waiting rooms for 3rd class passengers.

When approaching Likhoboram Larisa talks about the appearance of the Moscow ring road, and I conclude that the MCC could have taken place earlier. The last point of the “industrial route” is the station Shelepikha. The panoramas, frankly speaking, are creepy, but they are definitely worth seeing, at least to know that Moscow is not limited only to the restored Tverskaya and the Patriarchal bars.

Five months have passed since the opening of traffic on the Moscow Central Circle. Comfortable red electric trains have ceased to be perceived as exotic, but have become a familiar mode of transport for many. But still, not all Muscovites and guests of the capital managed to ride around the entire ring. I had some free time and decided to go full circle.

2. It’s the height of the working day, there aren’t very many people, but the platforms can’t be called empty either. , transition to the Avtozavodskaya metro station.

3. Swallows come often.

4. Who ordered a taxi to Dubrovka? Today we will go by electric train.

5. Basically, the MCC route passes through industrial areas. There are unexpectedly many hypermarkets and shopping centers along the route.

6. A new Zilart quarter is being built somewhere here.

7. Promised lifehack:
Previously, it was possible to travel along the MCC with free excursion. I regret that I never got around to getting out. For those who were unable to take the tour, the management of the Moscow Metro promised to launch an audio guide by the end of 2016, unfortunately, I did not find it. I suspect that they never made an audio guide.
But, after searching for information on the Internet, I found a page with a good amateur audio tour. The excursion consists of 30 fragments, carefully divided into stages. It is very convenient to drive and listen to what is outside the window.
The audio tour is a little outdated, since several previously closed stations have opened since the recording, but the information is still useful and interesting. Thanks to the authors!
Link to audio tour of the MCC: https://vk.com/audios-129204178, sit back by the window and enjoy. That's exactly what I did.

8. Shopping complex "Gorod".

9. Don’t forget that the MCC is the brainchild of not only the metro, but also Russian Railways. Therefore, fans of diesel locomotives and other trainspotting will find a lot of interesting things for themselves. If only the windows were cleaner.

10. Some more railway equipment.

11. Hotel “Izmailovo”, the MCC station of the same name is located very close.

12. Note to non-residents.

13. Izmailovo Kremlin. There is a good view of it.

14. Somewhere in the area of ​​the former Cherkizon.

15. It’s interesting to watch not only the city, but also the people.

16. "Elk Island".

17. Another one shopping mall.

18.

19. “Swallow” drives very quietly and smoothly, you can take a little nap. At the same time, at times the electric train accelerates to almost 100 kilometers per hour.

20. The snow is being removed.

21. We reached Vladykino.

22.

23.

24. We're passing by Botanical Garden. From here you can see perfectly.

25. Let's pass bird home.

26. The Sorge platform, named after the famous Soviet intelligence officer.

27. CSKA stadium with a building in the shape of the UEFA Cup.

28. We are approaching Moscow City. Station "Business Center".

29. This station was nicknamed “ Emerald City" An amazing and awkward architectural solution.

30. We are leaving the City.

31. Moscow is always standing somewhere.

32.

33. Let's move. We see the center of Moscow, Crimean Bridge and a monument to Peter the Great.

34. Moscow city graffiti.

A little more and I get off at the same station where I got off. Travel time is approximately 80 minutes.
This is such a spontaneous excursion. There is an idea to take another ride when it gets warmer, I will need to get ready and wash the window on the train.

By the way, the Museum of Moscow conducts official tours of the MCC.
The ticket price is 300 rubles, the schedule is on the museum website.

If you go on your own, the excursion will be quite cheap; remember that the transfer from the metro to the MCC is free, and the audio tour is available on the Internet. An excellent option for a walk and exploring the city, even for those who live in it. You can start and end the excursion anywhere, without depending on anyone.