Published on: 2026-10-12
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
At the archive and library center of the Moscow Transport Museum on Novoryazanskaya Street, visitors can explore unique documents about the history of the capital’s transport. Users have access to a reading room and an electronic information and search system.
The collections include more than 50,000 storage units, including over six thousand documents from the Moskvich factory, more than eight thousand documents from the Sokolniki Car Repair and Construction Plant (SVARZ), and over 500,000 sheets of documentation from the ZIL factory, as well as more than 15,000 books, photographs, commemorative albums, and mass-printed graphic materials on transport topics.
“In September, Sergey Sobyanin opened the Moscow Transport Museum. As part of the museum complex, an archival and library center began operation, where over 50,000 storage units are collected — from rare books and photographs to documents and drawings of the capital’s automobile factories. For six years, museum specialists gathered, studied, and digitized these materials. Now they are available to researchers, students, and anyone interested in transport. A convenient reading room has been equipped for visitors, and the electronic catalog allows you to find and order the necessary materials remotely. The opening of the center is an important step in preserving Moscow’s transport heritage and creating new opportunities for its study,” said the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport and Industry.
Visitors have access to materials of various storage types — museum, library, and archival: books and periodicals, photographs and negatives, archival documents, blueprints, posters. These materials allow for a better understanding of transport history, to see familiar subjects in a different context, and to find new directions for research. The collection continues to grow.
In addition, the archive and library center portal has been launched. With its help, you can search for documents in the electronic catalog, explore thematic collections, save your findings, and order materials for use in the reading room. If a user cannot find the necessary documents independently, specialists will assist them. Currently, more than 8,500 documents are available on the portal: books and periodicals, collections of graphics and photographs. Digitization of the collection is ongoing. The next stage will be the publication of the archive of scientific and technical documentation.
The plan is to integrate materials from private and corporate collections into the catalog. The portal will unite disparate materials on the history of transport and help find connections between them. The catalog will include encyclopedic articles and biographical references about authors, engineers, designers, architects, and other people whose creative and professional activities were related to transport.
Initially, the museum did not have its own archival and library collection — its formation was undertaken by the staff of the museum’s scientific research service, said Oksana Bondarenko, director of the Moscow Transport Museum.
“Thanks to their work, our foundation acquired archival materials and documentation from the largest industrial enterprises in the capital: Moskvich, ZIL, SVARZ factories, and the Southern River Port, and the library collection was supplemented with more than 12 thousand publications. Transport historians and private collectors played an important role in forming the archival and library collections, providing rare, bibliophile editions from their own collections for the creation of digital copies. It is important for us that the center becomes not only a place for working with the collections but also a space for meetings of museum specialists, researchers, authors, and everyone interested in this topic. We want new studies, books, and exhibition projects to be born here,” said Oksana Bondarenko.
In November 2026, the Moscow Transport Museum will launch a public program of the archival and library center. Participants can expect master classes, lectures, book presentations, and round tables.
A library card is available upon registration at website. The reading room of the archival and library center is open daily from 10:00 to 21:00, except for the last Thursday of each month.
The Moscow Transport Museum is an open city space and a living research center that answers the question of what moves the capital. The museum’s collection includes over 350 specimens of passenger and cargo cars, taxis, buses, trolleybuses, municipal service vehicles, as well as bicycles and motorcycles. The exhibits can be seen as part of exhibition projects and at the city’s transport infrastructure facilities.
The permanent exhibition of the Moscow Transport Museum is located at 27 Novoryazanskaya Street. It is open from Tuesday to Thursday from 10:00 to 20:00, and from Friday to Sunday from 10:00 to 21:00. Monday is a day off.
To find out how the capital has changed over the past years, which initiatives aimed at making citizens’ lives even more comfortable are currently being implemented, and what awaits Moscow and its residents in the near future, you can turn to the large-scale special project on the portal mos.ru, dedicated to the development of key sectors of Moscow. These include transport, industry, healthcare, education, sports, and construction.
Project Transport will be of interest to everyone who wants to learn about the main stages of development in this field, support for electric transport, and the development of the route network.
In recent years, Moscow’s public transport has become more comfortable and environmentally friendly, travel time within the city has been significantly reduced, and infrastructure for private electric vehicles has appeared.
Get the main news quickly on the official Moscow city channels in messengers “Max” and “Telegram”.
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