Subway (Metro)

The subway (metro) in St. Petersburg is considered to be the deepest in the world, so be prepared for long trips on the escalators up and down. Most of the underground stations are beautifully designed, and some of them may be even called Underground Palaces. The system of stops is well developed and well engineered, thanks to that tourists can easily use this type of transport to move from one Saint Petersburg district to another. There are information boards and signs with inscriptions in English helping foreign tourists not to get lost in the subway.

However, in rush hours the metro is crowded with people, but still this type of transport does not depend on traffic jams. Moreover, in the course of a day you won’t have to wait for a next train more than 2-3 minutes. The subway opens at 5.30 a.m. and closes at 12.30 pm. You are allowed to change metro lines up to 12.15 at night.

To use the metro in St. Petersburg it is necessary to purchase either a token or a magnetic card at tickets windows located in a lobby of each station. Also there are special vending machines providing passengers with both tokens and cards almost at every station. Orange machines of smaller size are designed for selling only set number of tokens and you can use only notes of certain denomination for purchasing. Computerized machines of larger size are provided with touchscreens allowing to select tokens or cards, to pay with different notes or coins and to top up cards.

One trip costs 65 rubles (85 cents) regardless of distance, time or line used.
The token is inserted in a slot, a card – scanned on the top of turnstiles at the station entrance.  You can get a discount using travel card, valid for all types of the city transportation.

While using the metro and other public transport, be attentive and keep in mind that it is famous for pickpocketing throughout the world though the city police often patrol metro stations.