"The purpose of the experiment is to reduce the load during rush hour": discounts on travel up to 50% will be introduced on two Moscow metro lines

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that discounts on travel up to 50% will be introduced on two lines of the Moscow metro from November 2.

"The reduced fare will be valid for passengers who enter any station of the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya and Nekrasovskaya lines from the opening until 07:15 and from 08:45 to 09:15," reads a message on Sobyanin's official VKontakte page.

The Mayor noted that this is the first project of this kind in Russia.

While it is a pilot and will last until July 2, 2021.

"The purpose of the experiment is to reduce the load at rush hour and to enable better social distance in the metro," Sobyanin explained.

Moskovsky Transport explained that the experiment should reduce the load of metro cars during rush hours to 7% and bring the train schedule on the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line closer to the ideal.

The organization also explained the choice of the metro segment for the experiment.

“The Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line was chosen for the pilot project, as it is the most in demand.

This is especially noticeable in the morning.

The Nekrasovskaya line participates in the project due to the fact that in the southern section it duplicates the Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line, ”the project page says.

The Moscow Metro website states that the discount is provided automatically when traveling within the specified time ranges.

Users of Troika cards with the Wallet tariff will charge 20 rubles instead of 40 for the trip.

In the case of using the "United" ticket for 60 trips or an unlimited "Single" ticket on the "Troika" card, 20 rubles will be returned to the "Wallet" for each day of the trip.

“All saved funds will be credited once a week.

To use the accumulated funds, it is necessary to record them using the “Remote Top-up” on the yellow terminal installed in each metro lobby.

And the owners of Android smartphones will be able to do this through the Moscow Metro application, - says the page of frequently asked questions as part of the experiment.

In addition, when paying for a trip with a bank card at the turnstile, the cost of the trip will not exceed 22 rubles instead of 44 rubles.

It is noted that the discount does not apply to discounted travel tickets and travel on a paper ticket "United".

According to the published information, the Moscow Metro conducted a survey in June 2020 on the readiness of passengers to change their own travel schedule after the introduction of discounts.

From the publication it follows that 49% of respondents agreed to adjust the time of using the metro.

Thus, 26% declared their readiness to change the travel time by 15-30 minutes, 11% - by an hour or more, 12% - by 30 minutes.

The remaining 51% of respondents ruled out the possibility of changing the schedule due to the discount on the trip.

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• © Vladimir Astapkovich

Note that earlier Sergei Sobyanin spoke about the decrease in the occupancy rate of public transport in the capital.

According to him, compared to last year, the difference was almost 40%.

“We can see from the traffic that we have reduced movement in the city by public transport by 1 million people.

And in general, in public transport, the metro, when compared with last year, a 39% decrease, ”RIA Novosti quotes him.

Sobyanin expressed hope that the imposed restrictions on the movement of people over 65 years old, chronic patients and schoolchildren will help improve the situation with coronavirus in the city.

Earlier, for these categories of citizens, the validity of preferential travel social cards was suspended amid the situation with COVID-19.

Preparing the subway for winter

Earlier, the metro told about the preparation of the transport system for the winter season.

As the head of the Moscow Metro Infrastructure Directorate Dmitry Doschatov said, as part of this process, second doors are installed at the station entrances.

“Since mid-September we have been installing second doors in the lobbies of the Moscow metro stations.

Their total number is 5 thousand. As of today, more than 3.5 thousand have already been delivered. The works are carried out at night - from 01:00 to 05:00, so as not to disturb passengers, "- his words are quoted on the website of the Mayor of Moscow.

In addition, Doschatov spoke about the heating points in the metro.

“We have 270 such points. As of today, they have all been checked, the necessary routine maintenance has been done, audits have been carried out, and we are ready to include them in the winter,” the official said.