The new Great Ring Line of the Moscow Metro has commenced operations in Russia.
The track features 31 stations and covers a distance of over 20km. It was partly constructed by China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC).
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Under the 70km Third Interchange Circuit of the Moscow Metro, CRCC built a 5.4km line, which included three stations and nine tunnels.
In December 2018, nearly six stations of the track’s first segment commenced services.
Meanwhile, the southwestern portion encompassing ten subway stations, three of which were built by CRCC, is slated to be opened by the end of this year.
These three stations are Michurinsky Prospekt, Prospekt Vernadskogo and Aminevskaya.
CRCC engineered five tunnel boring machines capable of operating in temperatures of -30°C during the four-and-a-half years of construction.
This metro project is said to be the first such project for a Chinese enterprise in Europe and marks the first time for Russia to introduce a Chinese company in its metro construction.
China Daily quoted Moscow deputy mayor in charge of transportation infrastructure development Maxim Liksutov as saying that CRCC secured the construction bid due to its ‘vast experience and advanced technology’.
He added that Moscow is working towards the expansion and modernisation of its subway system in order to ease traffic congestion.
China recently opened two new high-speed railway lines in its Central and North East regions.
