EuroWire, MOSCOW: Moscow on Thursday launched the T2 tram route, a 33 kilometer cross city line that city officials described as the world’s longest urban tram line, extending the Russian capital’s surface rail network from Chertanovskaya metro station in the south to Novogireevo station on the Moscow Central Diameters Line 4 in the east. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin opened the line as the second Moscow Tram Diameter, expanding a program that is designed to link distant districts with direct tram service across the city.
The new route has 79 stops and passes through 13 residential districts, linking major housing areas with metro, suburban rail and central transport hubs. City officials said the line improves access for more than two million residents across southern, central and eastern Moscow. The full end to end journey takes more than two hours, reflecting both the route’s length and the number of stops it makes through densely populated parts of the capital. The launch adds a new east south corridor to Moscow’s tram system.
Officials said trams on the T2 line are scheduled to run at six minute intervals, placing the route among the higher frequency services in the city’s tram network. They said passengers can transfer from the line to 31 metro, Moscow Central Circle, Moscow Central Diameters and railway stations, as well as four mainline rail terminals, including Yaroslavsky, Leningradsky, Kazansky and Paveletsky stations. Those links give the T2 line a wider role than a neighborhood route, connecting tram passengers directly to several of Moscow’s main rail gateways.
Route integration expands
T2 is the second line in Moscow’s tram diameter program, which aims to create long through routes rather than shorter standalone corridors. The first line, T1, opened on Nov. 12, 2025, creating a 27 kilometer route from Universitet metro station in the southwest to Metrogorodok in the east. With the T2 opening, Moscow now has two cross city tram diameters linking outer districts through central areas, a structure that mirrors the city’s broader approach of building direct links between rail, metro and surface transport services.
City officials have described the tram diameters as operating to surface metro standards, a term they use to emphasize high frequency service and stronger integration with the wider public transport system. The T2 line fits that model by combining a long route, frequent service and multiple interchange points with existing rail and metro infrastructure. Its opening also adds a second major through line to a tram system that has been repositioned in recent years as a larger part of daily urban travel rather than a peripheral feeder mode.
Network scale grows
Moscow already operates one of the world’s largest tram networks. Official city data released last year put the total length of tram tracks at about 430 kilometers, with most of that network running on dedicated right of way separated from road traffic. Against that backdrop, the opening of T2 stands out less as an isolated route launch than as a new operational layer on top of an extensive legacy network. It also gives the city a second long tram corridor built around direct cross city movement.
For daily passengers, the practical impact of the T2 launch lies in a single service that now connects southern and eastern Moscow without requiring a switch to shorter tram segments. For city transport planners, the line marks the next stage of a tram strategy that began with T1 and is now visible across two long diameters. The opening broadens access across 13 districts, adds new interchange options and cements tram travel as a more central part of Moscow’s transport map.