Monorail in Moscow: photo, diagram and description

Monorail in Moscow: a photo from the window of her train is the Ostankino Tower and the Telecentre, VVC, loaded highways and streets, urban landscapes. For a long time it was used not as a transport, but as entertainment. Does the monorail have serious prospects in Moscow?

History

The Moscow Monorail Transport System (MMTS) appeared in the north of the capital in 2004. For some time she worked in the excursion mode, later her main task was the transportation of passengers. Nevertheless, it is not very popular, although tourists are eager to travel by trains past the Ostankino Tower and the television center, reaching VDNKh. However, the route includes some industrial zones and simply not too remarkable areas.

Initially, the idea of MMTS appeared when the capital struggled for the right to hold the Expo 2010 exhibition - its main venue would be VVC, so it needed a transport convenient for the entrance to the center. They became a monorail in Moscow. The cost of this project was enormous, and although the exhibition was still held in another city, the transport line remained, its construction was not interrupted or frozen. Immediately after the start of operation, the monorail management encountered many reproaches. It was said that it is too expensive in construction and use. And although the system was developed from scratch, it was not clear why the experience was not used, for example, in Japan, in which the monorail road plays an important role in transport communications. In Moscow, after all, other climatic and weather conditions, so that the needs are special. So, now this is only one line.

Route

The monorail in Moscow connects the metro stations "Timiryazevskaya" and "VDNKh", passing over the October Railway, Altufevsky and Dmitrovskoye Highways, Avenue of the World. There are 6 stations on the line, the distance between them is about 700-800 meters. Their list from west to east: Timiryazevskaya, Milashenkova street, Telecentre, Academician Korolev street, VVC and Sergey Eisenstein street .

The creation of this line made it possible to avoid traveling by metro through the center, which reduced the total travel time by 2-3 times. So, after 10 years of work, what are the results and prospects? Will the monorail in Moscow, the scheme of which includes only one short line, evolve in the future?

Specifications and reviews

Currently, the monorail in Moscow - this is the maximum passenger flow of 7000 people per hour, 6 cars and 44 seats. The composition can reach speeds of up to 60 km / h, although, as a rule, it moves more slowly. The path between the two terminal stations takes about 16 minutes, and this really saves time, because the Kaluga-Riga and Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya metro lines do not have direct trans-shipment. The noise level at a standard speed of 40 km / h - at a distance of 25 meters is 40-65 dB, so this does not interfere with the residents of neighboring houses, even if the composition is very close to them.

The main advantage of the monorail is that it is an off-road transport system, that is, traffic jams, accidents and difficulties on ordinary streets do not affect it. On the other hand, a special situation will make evacuation of passengers more difficult, if necessary. The advantage over tram lines is that the monorail is more environmentally friendly, although more expensive in construction and operation.

Currently

Despite the fact that some time ago the project was recognized as unsuccessful, the monorail in Moscow "Timiryazevskaya-VDNH" exists until now. Several years ago there were talks about closing it, but the government of the capital postponed this issue until 2015, when this route will be duplicated by the metro line. If this causes an outflow of passengers from the monorail, the road will be dismantled. The current situation is completely satisfied with the transport department. Of course, the profitability of speech does not go, but the figures are steadily growing, since the beginning of 2014 this type of transport took advantage of almost 2 million people, there were more and paid passengers. Nevertheless, subsidies are allocated year after year from the capital budget.

Problems and solutions

Although it seems that the monorail in Moscow - a great solution, there are its opponents, who invariably criticize this type of transport. Many believe that it just does not fit into the architectural appearance of the city. In addition, the lack of interrelation with other modes of transport, although the authorities are constantly trying to solve this problem. Initially, it was assumed that the monorail will be integrated into the metro system, but in practice the stations of the two lines are at a considerable distance from each other. For a long time, individual tickets operated on this type of transport , but from 2013 all travel documents for the metro can be used for traveling to the MMTS. Moreover, during the transfer for 90 minutes an additional trip from the ticket is not written off.

Often critics point out the uselessness of this route, since it is really impossible to call it popular. However, to replace the monorail by land transport is also not possible, at least, a similar route for the bus will take much more than 16 minutes. Moreover, the mode of operation and the relatively short distance between trains make the MMTS much more attractive.

Prospects

Monorail in Moscow, as it is obvious, has both advantages and disadvantages. While it is unclear what prospects this type of transport is waiting for in the future. Perhaps the metropolitan authorities will find a more successful light metro project operating in the southern part of the city. The route is also laid mostly on aboveground structures, so it is in many respects similar to a monorail. Meanwhile, MMTS remains too expensive and completely unprofitable mode of transport, although it is possible that in the future this situation will change. The construction of new lines can help connect near Moscow with the capital, duplicating the busiest routes of suburban trains. The main thing is not to sacrifice the integration into the existing transport network.