“South-West” is a Moscow metro station located on its Sokolnicheskaya (red) line. Today, and for many decades now, this is not just another stopping point of the Moscow subway, but a whole transport hub, where hundreds of thousands of residents of the Moscow Region and guests of the city arrive daily. From here begins their usual route to work, if we are talking about the residents of the region, or the search for attractions, if we are talking about tourists. Built more than half a century ago, the station is a true southwestern transport gate of the capital.
A brief excursion into history
The Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station, opened on December 30, 1963, was a kind of New Year's gift to Muscovites and guests of the city. She became the 68th in a row in the metro. Its construction coincided with the mass development of villages located on the southwestern outskirts, which were included in Moscow at the same time as the Moscow Ring Road in 1960.
The extension of the first metro line was further thought for a long time: since 1957, when the Universitet station was opened. And now, after 6 years, two new stations (the second was Prospect Vernadsky), the stations were solemnly launched. Their decoration was typical enough for that time. A Muscovite’s inquisitive eye will easily be able to figure out a few more stations that are surprisingly similar to the Yugo-Zapadnaya and Prospect Vernadsky metro stations.
It is also noteworthy that the first few years the stopping point worked only for residents of the neighboring villages of Troparevo and Nikulino, and the first multi-storey buildings in the vicinity of South-West appeared only in 1967. For half a century this station remained terminal on the Sokolnichesky metro line. For many years in the Moscow subway was the only station named after the articulation of the cardinal points where it is located. Today another one has been added - “Yuzhnaya” on the Serpukhov-Timiryazevsky (gray) direction.
"Scientific" station
Many Muscovites are sure that the wrong station was called "University". Yes, of course, she got her name in honor of Moscow State University, located nearby, but the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro stop could surely bear this name. In the vicinity of this station there are a number of major higher educational institutions, including: MGIMO, RUDN, RANEPA, MIREA and Moscow State Pedagogical University. Often in the morning and evening hours you can see a lot of students hurrying to classes and back. For this reason, the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station area has a fairly powerfully developed infrastructure - several large shopping centers are located here, which include cafes, restaurants, shops and fitness centers.
Transport hub
The Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station in Moscow is the key for several metropolitan areas and satellite cities of the throne at once. With the opening of the Troparevo station, passenger flow from cities near Moscow fell somewhat, but suburban bus routes from Krasnoznamensk and Odintsovo come here.
How to get to the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station from Moscow? 41 public transport routes pass through the station: 39 bus and 2 trolleybus routes. They follow both from the Moscow districts located beyond the Moscow Ring Road (Solntsevo, Novo-Peredelkino, the city of Moscow), and from the municipalities located inside the ring road. So, for example, on buses 718, 720 and 752 of the route you can get to the Solntsevo district, on the 330th - to Novo-Peredelkino, and on the 890th - to Moscow. The route of the M4 main trolleybus that runs from Ozernaya Street to the Udarnik movie theater runs through the station. Late passengers will not stay on the street either: for example, the night bus N1 follows through the station.
How to get to the Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station by car? The exits from the station are located along one of the Moscow rays - Vernadsky Avenue. They are adjoined by the endings of Koshtoyants streets and 26 Baku Commissars. Here Pokryshkina Street originates. Literally 150 meters from the station pavilions lies Ruzskaya street.
Passenger flow and opening hours
Due to its position in the transport system of the city, the passenger flow through the South-West station is huge. So, in 2002, it amounted to more than 250 thousand people per day for entry and exit, but recently it has slightly decreased due to the opening of new stations on the Sokolnichesky branch, to which public transport routes from the Moscow region have been brought.
The Yugo-Zapadnaya metro station in Moscow is operating normally for the subway, opening its doors for passengers to enter at 5: 40-5: 45 in the morning, closing at exactly one in the morning. The first trains from the station leave between 5:48 a.m. and 5:59 a.m. It depends on even and odd days.