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Butovskaya line
An above-ground section of the line in March 2009
Overview
Owner	Moskovsky Metropoliten
Locale	Moscow
Termini	Bittsevsky Park (northern) Buninskaya Alleya (southern)
Stations	7
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	Moscow Metro
Operator(s)	Moskovsky Metropoliten
Rolling stock	81-740/741 81-740/741.1 81-740А/741А 81-740.4/741.4
Ridership	17.70 million (2012)
History
Opened	27 December 2003
Technical
Line length	10 kilometres (6.2 mi)
Character	Underground & Elevated
Track gauge	1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)
Electrification	Third rail
Route map Legend Bittsevsky Park Lesoparkovaya MKAD Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya connection to Line Ulitsa Skobelevskaya Bulvar Admirala Ushakova Ulitsa Gorchakova Buninskaya Alleya This diagram: view talk edit

The Butovskaya line (Russian: Бу́товская ли́ния, IPA: [ˈbutəfskəjə ˈlʲinʲɪjə]) (Line 12; Gray-Blue line)is a line of the Moscow Metro.

The line was an experiment for building rapid-transit in areas where boring or excavation for Metro tunnels is considered expensive and impractical. Previously, attempts had been made to build lines at ground level, like the Filyovskaya line, but harsh Russian winters and the occupation of the large amount of useful land, make such projects impractical. Still, more and more districts emerging on the edge of the city, particularly beyond the Moscow Automobile Ring Road (MKAD), required some kind of rapid-transit connection.

In the late 1980s Moscow Metro design bureau, Metrogiprotrans started to develop a set of projects that would bring rapid-transit beyond MKAD, using a system of tracks raised above ground. Yuzhnoye Butovo District was the first district to be connected in such a way.

The term light metro (Лёгкое метро́) was applied to these new projects, as it would feature a continuous elevated structure. Special rolling stock had to be developed to serve the line, as it would have to be resistant to the harsher climate elements and be able to negotiate sharper curves. For ease of operation, the light metro was integrated into the conventional metro service.

The Butovskaya line essentially extends the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line beyond the Serpukhovsky terminus. The 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) line was opened on 27 December 2003. The first 1.6 kilometres (0.99 mi) were bored in a tunnel, which allowed for a convenient transfer connection at the Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo terminus. For the rest of its length it is elevated, with both single and double tracks protected by a sound barrier. Currently four elevated stations, each of identical design, are in operation. All of them except Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya have a lift for wheelchair users only.

The line interchanges with Line 9 at Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya and Line 6 at Bittsevsky Park.

Stations

Station Name		Transfer
English	Russian
Bittsevsky Park	Битцевский парк	Novoyasenevskaya
Lesoparkovaya	Лесопарковая
Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya	Улица Старокачаловская	Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo
Ulitsa Skobelevskaya	Улица Скобелевская
Bulvar Admirala Ushakova	Бульвар Адмирала Ушакова
Ulitsa Gorchakova	Улица Горчакова
Buninskaya Alleya	Бунинская аллея

Rolling stock

The line shares the Varshavskoe depot (No. 8) with the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line. Specially built class 81-740/741 (Rusich) trains serve this line. These were designed for outdoor operation. A total of 12 three-car trains are currently assigned.

Recent developments and future plans

Although the light metro was indeed innovative, it also received its share of criticism from different social groups and the media, which could well affect its future.

The main problems arose from finances, as the design was originally planned to be cost-saving; however, the BLLM turned out to be more expensive than conventional Metro lines. Passenger discomfort arose from shorter trains and larger intervals, but in particular from the transfer at Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya/Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo, where the light metro station consists of two separated platforms on either side of the main line with no reversal sidings behind it. As a result, passengers must queue for lengthier times at a platform and also deal with exiting traffic before boarding their train. Additional problems arose from the landscape damage done by the flyover bridge.

Furthermore, costly and embarrassing improvements had to be made just a few months after opening. First, improvements had to be made to the faulty new trains, as they required immediate and unforeseen refits; in addition, despite the sound barriers, further noise reduction works had to be carried out on the tracks themselves by repairing their joints.

Despite the criticism, the Moscow Metro continues to put forward several expansion programs for the BLLM, the first one of which is to place proper reversal sidings north of the station thus separating the terminus platforms into northbound and southbound roles; at present this is announced for 2010. After the completion of that there was initially a planned northwestwards underground extension towards the terminus of the Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line, Novoyasenevskaya with two new stations: Lesoparkovaya and Bittsevsky Park, which opened on February 27, 2014. Since then Moscow Metro has postponed the project and even taken it off its list of primarily projects to be completed by 2015.

A further three-station expansion to the southeast, as Butovo continues to grow, is proposed: Ulitsa Staropotapovskaya, Ulitsa Ostafyevskaya and Novokuryanovo, along with a new depot. The latter's construction might prove pivotal as it would allow for the line to become more independent in operation. On the map of new plans, the extension to Milizeysky poselok (or East Sherbinka) is planned with at least two stations. A transfer at Buninskaya Alleya to the Sokolnicheskaya line is planned after 2023.

The problems with the Butovo line have also affected the prospect of other light metro lines in general as the second planned line, the Solntsevskaya light metro line, has now been canceled. Its construction was planned to begin in 2004, with the line expected to open in 2006, but after repeated postponements, Moscow Metro decided that it would be more practical to revert to an older project – a conventional, Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line. After the SL's cancellation, there have been concerns that BL's fate could be much worse, as there are arguments that it would be more practical to disassemble the line and replace it with two-three station extension of the STL.

Despite the shortcomings, one positive aspect of the BL is that the 81-740/741 trains, serial production of the rolling stock, have gained wider usage and are now dominant on the Filyovskaya line, having replaced all of the older trains and is now growing its share of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line.

See also

• Medium capacity system

References

1. Moscow Metro. 2012 annual report (PDF). p. 22. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-04-07.
2. "Московское метро | Строительство эстакадных линий легкого метро". metro.molot.ru. Archived from the original on 2004-01-16.
3. "Московское метро | Легкое метро". metro.molot.ru. Archived from the original on 2003-03-20.
4. "Московское метро | Бутовская линия". metro.molot.ru. Archived from the original on 2004-03-01.
5. Перспективы развития (in Russian). Archived from the original on April 15, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2008.

External links

• Butovskaya Line, Moscow Metro official site

v t e Moscow Metro
Expansion timeline Stations list Bridges Luzhniki Preobrazhensky Smolensky Metro-2 Moscow Central Diameters
Sokolnicheskaya line	Potapovo Kommunarka Olkhovaya Prokshino Filatov Lug Salaryevo Rumyantsevo Troparyovo Yugo-Zapadnaya Prospekt Vernadskogo Universitet Vorobyovy Gory Sportivnaya Frunzenskaya Park Kultury Kropotkinskaya Biblioteka Imeni Lenina Okhotny Ryad Lubyanka Chistye Prudy Krasnye Vorota Komsomolskaya Krasnoselskaya Sokolniki Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad Cherkizovskaya Bulvar Rokossovskogo
Zamoskvoretskaya line	Khovrino Belomorskaya Rechnoy Vokzal Vodny Stadion Voykovskaya Sokol Aeroport Dinamo Belorusskaya Mayakovskaya Tverskaya Teatralnaya Novokuznetskaya Paveletskaya Avtozavodskaya Tekhnopark Kolomenskaya Kashirskaya Kantemirovskaya Tsaritsyno Orekhovo Domodedovskaya Krasnogvardeyskaya Alma-Atinskaya
Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya line	Pyatnitskoye Shosse Mitino Volokolamskaya Myakinino Strogino Krylatskoye Molodyozhnaya Kuntsevskaya Slavyansky Bulvar Park Pobedy Kiyevskaya Smolenskaya Arbatskaya Ploshchad Revolyutsii Kurskaya Baumanskaya Elektrozavodskaya Semyonovskaya Partizanskaya Pervomayskaya (closed) Izmaylovskaya Pervomayskaya Shchyolkovskaya
Filyovskaya line	Main Aleksandrovsky Sad Arbatskaya Smolenskaya Kiyevskaya Studencheskaya Kutuzovskaya Fili Bagrationovskaya Filyovsky Park Pionerskaya Kuntsevskaya Branch Vystavochnaya Mezhdunarodnaya
Koltsevaya line	(← Loop towards Krasnopresnenskaya) Belorusskaya Novoslobodskaya Suvorovskaya Prospekt Mira Komsomolskaya Kurskaya Taganskaya Paveletskaya Dobryninskaya Oktyabrskaya Park Kultury Kiyevskaya Krasnopresnenskaya (Loop towards Belorusskaya →)
Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaya line	Novoyasenevskaya Yasenevo Tyoply Stan Konkovo Belyayevo Kaluzhskaya Kaluzhskaya (closed) Novye Cheryomushki Profsoyuznaya Akademicheskaya Leninsky Prospekt Shabolovskaya Oktyabrskaya Tretyakovskaya Kitay-gorod Turgenevskaya Sukharevskaya Prospekt Mira Rizhskaya Alekseyevskaya VDNKh Botanichesky Sad Sviblovo Babushkinskaya Medvedkovo
Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaya line	Planernaya Skhodnenskaya Tushinskaya Spartak Shchukinskaya Oktyabrskoye Pole Polezhayevskaya Begovaya Ulitsa 1905 Goda Barrikadnaya Pushkinskaya Kuznetsky Most Kitay-gorod Taganskaya Proletarskaya Volgogradsky Prospekt Tekstilshchiki Kuzminki Ryazansky Prospekt Vykhino Lermontovsky Prospekt Zhulebino Kotelniki
Kalininsko-Solntsevskaya line	Kalininskaya line Novokosino Novogireyevo Perovo Shosse Entuziastov Aviamotornaya Ploshchad Ilyicha Marksistskaya Tretyakovskaya Volkhonka Plyushchikha Dorogomilovskaya  Solntsevskaya line Delovoy Tsentr Park Pobedy Minskaya Lomonosovsky Prospekt Ramenki Michurinsky Prospekt Ozyornaya Govorovo Solntsevo Borovskoye Shosse Novoperedelkino Rasskazovka Pykhtino Aeroport Vnukovo
Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya line	Altufyevo Bibirevo Otradnoye Vladykino Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Timiryazevskaya Dmitrovskaya Savyolovskaya Mendeleyevskaya Tsvetnoy Bulvar Chekhovskaya Borovitskaya Polyanka Serpukhovskaya Tulskaya Nagatinskaya Nagornaya Nakhimovsky Prospekt Sevastopolskaya Chertanovskaya Yuzhnaya Prazhskaya Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya Annino Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo
Lyublinsko-Dmitrovskaya line	Fiztekh Lianozovo Yakhromskaya Seligerskaya Verkhniye Likhobory Okruzhnaya Petrovsko-Razumovskaya Fonvizinskaya Butyrskaya Maryina Roshcha Dostoyevskaya Trubnaya Sretensky Bulvar Chkalovskaya Rimskaya Krestyanskaya Zastava Dubrovka Kozhukhovskaya Yuzhny Port Pechatniki Volzhskaya Lyublino Bratislavskaya Maryino Borisovo Shipilovskaya Zyablikovo
Bolshaya Koltsevaya line	(← Loop towards Maryina Roshcha) Savyolovskaya Petrovsky Park CSKA Khoroshyovskaya Narodnoye Opolcheniye Mnyovniki Terekhovo Kuntsevskaya Davydkovo Aminyevskaya Michurinsky Prospekt Prospekt Vernadskogo Novatorskaya Vorontsovskaya Zyuzino Kakhovskaya Varshavskaya Kashirskaya Klenovy Bulvar Nagatinsky Zaton Pechatniki Tekstilshchiki Nizhegorodskaya Aviamotornaya Lefortovo Elektrozavodskaya Sokolniki Rizhskaya Maryina Roshcha (Loop towards Savyolovskaya →)
Butovskaya line	Bittsevsky Park Lesoparkovaya Ulitsa Starokachalovskaya Ulitsa Skobelevskaya Bulvar Admirala Ushakova Ulitsa Gorchakova Buninskaya Alleya
Moscow Monorail	Timiryazevskaya Ulitsa Milashenkova Teletsentr Ulitsa Akademika Korolyova Vystavochny Tsentr Ulitsa Sergeya Eyzenshteyna
Moscow Central Circle	(← Loop towards Likhobory) Okruzhnaya Vladykino Botanichesky Sad Rostokino Belokamennaya Bulvar Rokossovskogo Lokomotiv Izmaylovo Sokolinaya Gora Shosse Entuziastov Andronovka Nizhegorodskaya Novokhokhlovskaya Ugreshskaya Dubrovka Avtozavodskaya ZIL Verkhniye Kotly Krymskaya Ploshchad Gagarina Luzhniki Kutuzovskaya Delovoy Tsentr Shelepikha Khoroshyovo Zorge Panfilovskaya Streshnevo Baltiyskaya Koptevo Likhobory (Loop towards Okruzhnaya →)
Nekrasovskaya line	Nizhegorodskaya Stakhanovskaya Okskaya Yugo-Vostochnaya Kosino Ulitsa Dmitriyevskogo Lukhmanovskaya Nekrasovka
Troitskaya line	Troitsk Vatutinki Desyonovskoye Desna Rakitki Sosenki Kommunarka Bachurinskaya Kornilovskaya Tyutchevskaya Generala Tyuleneva Universitet Druzhby Narodov Novatorskaya Ulitsa Stroiteley Akademicheskaya Sevastopolsky Prospekt
Rublyovo-Arkhangelskaya line	Ilyinskaya Rublyovo-Arkhangelskoye Troitse-Lykovo Strogino Zhivopisnaya Bulvar Generala Karbysheva Prospekt Marshala Zhukova Presnya Shelepikha Delovoy Tsentr
Biryulyovskaya line	ZIL Ostrov Mechty Klenovy Bulvar Batyunino Moskvorechye Kavkazsky Bulvar 6th Radialnaya Ulitsa Lipetskaya Zagorye Biryulyovo
Disasters / attacks 1977 Moscow bombings February 2004 Moscow Metro bombing August 2004 Moscow Metro bombing 2010 Moscow Metro bombings 2014 Moscow Metro derailment

• Moscow Metro lines
• Railway lines opened in 2003
• Butovskaya Line