The Metro

The metro is the best way to get around town as Moscow has one of the best systems in the world. There are 12 metro lines and 177 stops throughout the city. Most of the stops in town are very far below the ground - taking the escalator down takes a couple minutes and they seem to be deeper than 60 meters in many location - there are a few places where the trains go above ground but I stick to the center of the city mostly so it's not too bad. Many of the stops are decorated with murals, statues, stained glass, marble - it's really nice. The trains come often too - between 1-2 minutes most of the time and there are times where it take a bit longer but I never feel like I'm waiting long.

There one metro line that goes in a circle around the downtown area and connect the other metro lines to each other, and there are additional intersections of the lines within this circle ring. In the morning I usually take the circle line and transfer to another line to get to work. I find that if I go in the back car that it is the least crowded because there is usually a drunk or two passed out, sometimes vomit in the area, which makes people pick other cars. Often they'll be sleeping on one of the benches with people keeping a safe distance but no one seems to mind really. In the US the police would throw you in the drunk tank, but this is Russia and it's actually encouraged to drink beer on the metro or walking around town. Just a fascinating place.

I find it annoying most days when I take the metro that people do not make room outside of the doors for people to get off the train first. So there's people going multiple ways, and often its so crowded that it is difficult to get off the train. Also, for some reason, about 2-3 days per week someone will ask me a question even though I'm listening to my iPod - I can usually answer this question 1 out of 3 tries - as long as they are only asking about the stop or which direction they need to go for a different line.

In the evening its so crowded that getting through the area where I have to scan my metro card that I'm usually sandwiched in between a couple hundred people who are all pushing forward, even if there is no where to go. I literally don't even need to lift my feet - I just slide forward with the push. If you do not scan your card when going through the gate little arms come out very quickly and will crack you right across the knees. I am always careful to make sure that I scan my card and it's accepted before I try to pass through because this city is not very accessible for handicapped individuals.

I've put in some pictures and descriptions below.

The metro map - it's not scale of how far things are from each other. In relation to the map I live at about 11 o'clock, between the green, brown, and grey - specifically between the Belorusskaya, Mayakovskaya, and Novoslobodskaya stops.

This is similar to conditions I've experienced in the evenings - it's brutal sometimes. Even on a Saturday afternoon it's crowded.

The escalators are so long. As rude as the people are here, they typically stand to the right so that people can walk on the left side of the escalator if they choose.

This is the inside of a metro station, typical traffic flow.

The Komsomolskaya metro stop is one of the most picturesque in Moscow - I'm not sure how someone was able to take this picture without a crowd but I liked it.
The Mayakovskaya metro stop which is less than a 10 minute walk from me - it's pretty nice too.