The City of Moscow has launched the first fully unmanned tram in Russia, which will operate in the northwest of the city on line number 10, running between Shchukinskaya and Kulakova Street metro stations.
The unmanned tram has already covered more than 8,000 kilometres in test mode without committing a single traffic violation. The software that powers the unmanned tram was developed entirely by Moscow Metro employees, without the involvement of any third-party companies. This smart technology, created by the city, is unique and has already been recognised with several prestigious international awards.
The tram is equipped with a sophisticated sensor system, a high-precision route map, and integrated systems for localisation, computer vision, movement planning, and wheel slip prevention. As a result, it is capable of stopping exactly where required, opening and closing its doors, responding to traffic signals, yielding to pedestrians, making independent decisions at intersections, switching tracks, and keeping to its schedule. A member of the tram management team is currently present in the cabin or passenger area purely for observation, as required by federal law, and does not intervene in the operation.
The City of Moscow plans to further develop and expand the use of such innovative trams. By the end of this year, three additional trams will be equipped with unmanned technologies. By 2030, more than 300 trams — representing roughly two-thirds of the capital’s fleet — will be fitted with such systems. It is expected that by 2035, around 90 percent of trams in Moscow will operate using unmanned technologies. The introduction of the first fully unmanned tram in Russia has been described by the Moscow Transport Department as a significant technological milestone, marking the beginning of the integration of unmanned systems into the capital’s public transport network.
The first unmanned metro train
In May 2024, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin inaugurated the Electric Transport and Unmanned Technology Centre in western Moscow, which supported the development of the unmanned tram project that was initiated in 2023.
On 30 August, Sergei Sobyanin announced that the city would introduce its first unmanned metro train in 2026. He stated that he believes all public transport will eventually be unmanned, not within a year or two, but over the course of several decades, with unmanned rail transport being the first priority.
Unmanned vehicles in Moscow are tested in three stages: the first involves running without passengers, the second allows passengers on board under the supervision of a driver who monitors the process without intervening, and the third stage operates with passengers and no driver at all.
Public transport remains central to life in Moscow, with approximately 70 percent of the population relying on it. Plans are in place to increase this figure to 75 percent. In terms of car ownership per capita, the city ranks second nationally, following the Moscow Region, which has 415 cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Authorities have been enforcing measures to ensure that no more than 3.5 million cars enter the city each day, a limit that has been successfully maintained for the past seven years.
These efforts are supported by the ongoing expansion of urban rail and the modernisation of existing infrastructure and rolling stock. Moscow plans to construct an average of six new metro stations per year, with around 30 stations expected to be completed by 2030, and another 30 by 2035. Construction is currently underway on the Bolshaya Koltsevaya, Rublevo-Arkhangelskaya, Biryulevskaya, and Troitskaya lines, and plans are under consideration for a new line extending towards the village of Skolkovo, in the western part of the Moscow metropolitan area.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Metro’s rolling stock is set to grow by 17 percent by 2030. Over the next two years, the metro will receive more than 700 carriages from the Moscow-2026 series. On an average weekday, over 8.2 million journeys are made using metro trains.
In addition, in August, the Mayor also announced plans to extend the Moscow Central Diameters network beyond the capital, with future links planned to regional centres such as Yaroslavl, Tula, Ivanovo, Tver, and Smolensk.
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