Metrovagonmash 81-717/81-714

The 81-717/714 is a Soviet/Russian metro car model, designed in the Soviet Union in the mid-1970s. The cars were made from 1976 to 2014 by Metrovagonmash and the I. E. Yegorov Vagonmash factories of Mytishchi and Saint Petersburg, respectively. Production is still ongoing for specific modifications, and it is both the most widespread metro train ever, currently being used in 19 rapid transit system in 11 countries, and having been produced in 24 different variants in total, as well as the subway train with the longest production span and largest total production number, with over 7000 cars having been manufactured in total so far.
The names 81-717 and 81-714, also known as “Nomernoy” in some countries, and as “ Vagonmash” in other ones, come from the Soviet electric rail vehicle numbering system, where the 81-717 cars are the control cars and the 81-714 are the trailer cars. Unlike the previous metro sets made in the Soviet Union, they never received a lettered classification, thus, they have been known as the 81-series or the "Number Trains" (Номерной Поезд). The "number trains", as they are known colloquially among railfans and some commuters, feature restyled front ends, stronger electric traction motors, complex and wider usage of various electronic devices, and are more advanced than their predecessors, the E-series. 81-717/714 cars differ from the E-series in having control desks only in control cars.
They were first deployed in Moscow in 1978, and have since then seen widespread usage in the former USSR and its satellite states in Prague, Budapest, Warsaw, and Sofia which are now all in the European Union.
By the 1970s, most metro lines in the Soviet Union were using the E-series trainsets, which started mass production in 1963 (although the prototype was built in 1959). They were a further development of the G and D-series sets from the late 1940s and 1950s, but with upgraded electric equipment (contactor-based, built by the Dinamo Electric Machines Factory of Moscow). Although there was improvement in the construction of the carbodies (based on the Riga-built ER1 EMUs of the Soviet Railways), the traction motors were quite weak, and the contactor system had limits. This, in relation to the weight of the cars and the oversimplified electric system, which was built in order to emphasize on energy conservation, led to a poor acceleration performance, which reduced the headway on metro lines on various networks at the time. To counter this, engineers came up with three key different solutions:
The pulse voltage regulation system was already attempted. The Ečs subseries of the E-series, which was delivered to Prague from 1972 to 1976, was very different from the Ev subseries delivered to Budapest from 1969 to 1979: it featured thyristor pulse converters to regulate the excitation of traction motors during acceleration and deceleration, increasing their performance, whilst retaining the same carbody. Another upgrade was the Ež3/Em508T subseries, delivered to multiple Soviet cities from 1973 to 1979. Using experiences learnt from the Ei subseries (delivered from 1968 to 1973), it applied pulse voltage regulation on traction motors too, and eliminated the ripple-effects within the ALS-ARS safety systems, greatly improving the general performance of these sets and at the same time, keeping electric consumption to the strictly necessary. In regards to weight reduction, it was still decided to reduce some weight, so the carbodies would be built from aluminium. A more powerful traction engine was developed, too.
Thus, in 1973, at the Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant, a team of engineers under the leadership of the plant's chief designer A. G. Akimov, designed three different prototypes of the new trains, which later became known as the I-series (in the numbered classification, 81-715 was the control car, and 81-716 was the trailer car). The first prototype of the I-series was manufactured in 1974, and it was a drastic change from the other Moscow Metro sets that were using the network at the time despite being : compared to the original E-series, which produced 72 kWh, the new sets produced 90 (later 100) kWh. The aluminium alloy carbodies reduced the tare mass of the cars by 2 tonnes, and featured thyristorized voltage regulation and excitation, which greatly increased the speed and acceleration of the trains, allowing them to reach a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). In addition to this, the new train implemented forced ventilation (removing the humps of the roof that were for ventilation of the passenger area), new lighting in the passenger area, and removal of cabs on the trailer cars, leaving only 1 cab at the each end of the train.
This greatly increased the passenger capacity and performance. But despite its advantages, it posed disadvantages to its manufacturers: it was too complex to be mass-produced, in such a short time. The factories that were to produce the cars could not set up aluminium manufacturing facilities in such a short time, and additionally, the voltage regulation system and thyristors required refinement. The type 1 prototype of the I-series was eventually made, but the production of the Ež3/Em508T subseries continued, also due to lower costs of manufacture.
By the early 1970s, the Metrovagonmash factory already designed a trailer car type, based on the never-built Ež2 subseries. The control cars were also based on the Ež2, but the front end was modified, along with the drivers controls. These two types of cars later became 81-714 and 81-717, respectively. With more lessons learnt from the electrical propulsion system of the I-series, in the first half of 1976, the Mytishchi factories made the first six cars of the 81-series. These were 5846, 5854, 5855 (control cars) and 5837, 5867, 5868 (trailer cars).
The design of the new cars was similar, but at the same time, different from the newest E-series cars. The carbodies were roughly similar to them, having same dimensions. Certain equipment (doors, motor-compressors, batteries, other pneumatic equipment) were also carried over from the Ež3 subseries. However the most noticeable external change was in the front ends of the train: the driver car was moved in the middle of the train, no longer being placed on the right side of the train. Additionally, the emergency exit doors were removed, because of this. Traction motors from the I-series, the DK-117B, now producing 110 kWh, were installed. Compared to the older trains an Auxiliary Power Supply Unit (Блок Питания Собственных Нужд) was installed to power the batteries. Lighting in the passenger area was now made with fluorescent lamps. This led to an increase in the tare weight of the cars, so it was decided to use a springs-based suspension.
The 81-series cars never got a lettered classification, because these were an experimental alternative to the complex I-series cars. But the complexity of the I-series cars, which meant endless adjustments regarding aluminium production, pulse regulation, at the time when newly opened Soviet metro networks (such as in Tashkent, Kharkiv, etc.) were in dire need of new cars, led to the selection of the 81-series to become the new standard metro trainset of the Soviet Union. The production of prototypes of the I-series continued in the 1980s, but they were the last to receive a lettered classification, which meant that metro sets produced from the 81-717/714 onwards never received a lettered classification. With the appearance of newer sets (such as the Yauza, Rusich, Oka, Neva, Moskva), the 81-series then became known as the "Numbered Train" (Номерной Поезд; Nomernoy Poezd). It should also be noted that "nomernoy" also stands for vehicle registration plates, so this can be a widely interpreted name in the English language.
The demand for the cars was very high at the beginning, so high, that production at the I. E. Yegorov factory in Leningrad (now known as Vagonmash Saint Petersburg) began in January 1980, later on, the Tver (then known as Kalinin) Railcar Factory began production of these cars in mid-1980 of 81-717 head cars, and in 1985 of 81-714 intermediate cars.
The base model of the 81-717/714 metro trains was produced between 1977 and 1988.
Since its start of production, the sets were delivered to all metro networks in the Soviet Union, and also to most of the Warsaw Pact countries.
In the former USSR, all trains use the 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauge.
Moscow was the first customer of 81-717/714 trains in the Soviet Union, where it initially tested the prototypes between 1976 and 1977. By late 1977 it had placed its order for the new train model, and the first trains arrived in 1978 on the Koltsevaya line, replacing the G-series metro trains that had operating since the opening of the line in 1950. This was followed with the newly opened Kalininskaya line and the Zamoskvoretskaya line in 1979. Since then they have become representative of the network, being used on almost all lines (except the ones that kept using E-series trainsets and that were replaced with Rusich, Oka and Moskva trainsets).
Production of the base model 81-717/714 trains for Moscow ended in 1988, when the manufacturing of the 81-717.5/714.5 trainsets for the city's metro system began (this modification was a big step forward as the new cars had fireproof electrical equipment, an alarm and fire extinguishing system, as well as a microphone in the driver's cabin; the Nomernoy trainsets for Warsaw and Sofia were based on the 81-717.5/714.5 type). Production of the 81-717.5/714.5 trains for Moscow ended in 1993, as the Moscow Metro began purchasing 81-717.5M/714.5M trainsets the same year. The last delivery of 81-717.5/714.5 trains for Moscow was carried out in 2010.
Over the years, the 81-717/714 sets received improvements, especially from the late 1990s onwards, replacing the traditional leather bench-type seats with vandal-proof plastic ones. Externally, the difference between the base model and newer sets is the presence of four headlights in the centre instead of two headlights above the drivers' cab. More recently, refurbished sets feature the new Moscow Metro livery, with blue corrugated sides and grey window bands.
Some of the 81-717/714 sets have special liveries, most notably the "Red Arrow" trainset, which is painted in a red/gold livery instead of the traditional blue/white scheme. Another special example is the retro 81-717.5A/714.5A Sokolniki set, used exclusively on the Sokolnicheskaya Line since 2010. It was based on the A-series sets of the Moscow Metro, following an old-school theme: the exterior is similar to the A-series sets in a cream/chocolate livery, whilst the interior is based on the 1950s Soviet carriages.
Their current allocation is:
It is expected that at some point, the trains will be withdrawn due to the incoming "Moskva" trainsets, which have been introduced gradually since 2017 on multiple lines where the 81-717/714s are operating. It is scheduled that all 81-717/714 cars will leave service in Moscow in about 2040.
81-717/714 trains were delivered to Kyiv in 1980 in order to modernize the metropolitan's rolling stock, followed by 81-717.5/714.5 trainsets in 1989, 81-717.5M/714.5M trains in 1995, and eight 81-717.5K/714.5K trains in 2013, while in 2023, sixty 81-717.3/714.3 carriages were donated to Kyiv from Warsaw. All the 81-717/714 trainsts from the 1980s underwent a major overhaul in 2019-2020.
81-717/714 trains and many of their modified variants are in service on Line 2 (Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya Line), Line 4 (Pravoberezhnaya Line) and Line 5 (Frunzensko-Primorskaya Line) of the Saint Petersburg Metro since the 1980s, though the oldest 81-717/714 trains for the metro system were manufactured in 1977.
Trains of types 81-717/714 and 81-717.5/714.5 were delivered to Tashkent from 1980 to 1993 in order to replace the Ezh3/Em-508T cars on the Chilonzor Line and enter service on the Uzbekistan Line. Currently, there are 168 Nomernoy carriages in operation in the metro system, most of which are modernized ones.
Trains of type 81-717/714 began service in Yerevan in 1981 when the city's metro was opened. Two four-car 81-717.5/714.5 trainsets were delivered in 1993. In the early 1990s many 81-717/714 trains were sold to the Moscow Metro. Since 2001, all 81-717/714 trainsets in Yerevan consist of two cars. In the early 2000s some of the older 81-717/714 trainsets underwent a minor refit, while complete modernization of all the 81-717/714 trains and the 81-717.5/714.5 trains is being carried out since 2016. The refurbished trains are running as 81-717M/714M trainsets and 81-717.5M/714.5M trainsets.
81-717/714 and 81-717.5/714.5 trains are used in Kharkiv. A hundred and twelve 81-717/714 cars were delivered to the city's metro system in 1983 in order to increase the number of the rolling stock of the metropolitan, followed by twenty-eight 81-717.5/714.5 cars in the 1990s. Plastic seats are being installed on the rolling stock of the metro for the past ten years.
81-717/717 trainsets are in service in the Minsk Metro since 1984, when the metro's first line was opened. All of them have been modernized. In the late 1980s 81-717.5/714.5 trains were delivered to the city, followed by 81-717.5M/714.5M trainsets between 1993 and 2014.
Fifty-eight 81-717/714 carriages were given to Nizhny Novgorod from Leningrad in 1985 (these trains ran alongside D-type trainsets until 1993). These cars were enough to form twelve four-car trainsets, with some cars being in reserve. They were followed by four more such carriages in 1987, eighteen 81-717.5/714.5 cars in total in 1991 and 1993, and fifty 81-717.6/71.6 cars between 2012 and 2017. In 2024, the modernization of all the trainsets produced prior to 2000 was completed. Currently, the 81-717/714 trains and their modified versions serve on both lines 1 and 2 of the Nizhniy Novgorod Metro.
Thirteen four-car 81-717/714 trainsets were produced for the Novosibirsk Metro in 1985, and are in service since 1986 when the metro was opened. They were followed by two four-car 81-717/714 train in 1987, five four-car 81-717.5/714.5 trains in 1989-1992, two four-car 81-717.5M/714.5M trains in 2006 and 2007, and one four-car 81-717.5N/714.5N trains in 2010. Three other 81-series trains are in service as well, two of which have 81-717.5N head cars, though their intermediate cars are of type 81-541.2N, while the third one consists of two 81-540.2H head cars and two 81-541.2H intermediate cars.
81-717/714 trainsets were delivered to the Baku Metro in 1987 in order to fully replace all the modifications of the E-series in the following years. The current rolling stock of 81-717/714 trains in the metro system is: 81-717M/714M trainsets (all of which were 81-717/714 trains prior to their modernization in 2016-2022), 81-717.5/714.5 trainsets (all of which are refurbished), 81-717.5M/714.5M trains (most of which are refurbished), and 81-717.5B/714.5B trains.
81-717/714 trains for the Samara Metro were manufactured in 1987 prior to the opening of the metropolitan the same year, followed by 81-717.5/714.5 and 81-717.6/714.6 trainsets in the 1990s and in the 2020s respectively. All trains consists of four cars (two head ones and two intermediate ones) and run on all three lines of the metro system. The 1987-built units are being systematically modernized since 2020.
81-717/714 trains are in service on both the Akhmeteli-Varketili Line (on this line there are some Ež3 and Em-508T modernized cars as well), and the Saburtalo Line of the Tbilisi Metro since 1987. All trains have been refurbished and are now running as 81-717M/714Ms. The 81-717/714 trains were changed into 81-717M/714Ms using Czech blueprints, hence the similar cab and livery designs and thus should not be confused with their Czech counterparts.
Forty-six trains of type 81-717.5/714.5 were delivered to Yekaterinburg when the first and still only line of the city's metro system was opened in 1991. They were followed by eight 81-717.5M/71.5M trainsets in 2011, and by eight 81-717.6/714.6 cars in 2019. Currently, there are sixty-two four-car trains in the Yekaterinburg Metro, all from the 81-series. Some of the 81-717.5/714.5 trains were modernized in 2019.
81-717.5/714.5 and 81-717.5M/714.5M trains are operating in the Dnipro Metro, serving on the metropolitan's only line ever since 1995. Dnipro's metropolitan is the smallest metro system where 81-series trains are operating (simply because Dnipro is the smallest metropolitan in an ex-USSR country). In total, 45 cars (18 head ones and 27 intermediate ones) were produced for the Dnipro Metro.
Outside the USSR, 81-717/714 modified trainsets were delivered initially to Prague and Budapest, and later on to Warsaw and Sofia. Like mainline trains in their respective countries, they are all 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.
507 carriages (204 head cars and 303 intermediate cars) of type 81-717.1/714.1 were delivered to Prague between 1978 and 1990, forming 101 five-car sets with two intermediate cars kept as spares, adding onto the Ečs trains that had been delivered earlier. Three cars were lost: one was scrapped after a derailment at Leninova (now Dejvická) station in 1986, while two were lost in a fire at Kosmonautů (now Háje) station in 1987. Full overhauls had been scheduled for the oldest cars in the early 1990s, but it was eventually decided that a more complete rebuild was required, and between 1994 and 2010 most but not all of the 81-71 cars were rebuilt as 81-71M stock by Škoda and ČKD. Since 2005 series 81 trains on line C were replaced by new trains produced jointly by ČKD, Adtrans and Siemens, 41 modernized 81-71M remain in service on Line A and 52 on Line B.
32 trains of type 81-717.2/714.2 were delivered to Hungary between 1979 and 1991, followed by two 81-717.2M/714.2M trainsets; all in service on lines M2 and M3, being used alongside the older type E-series trains built several years earlier. In 2015, a contract was signed on the modernization of the existing older subway cars on the metro. In 2016, the first subway train left Budapest and was delivered back to Metrovagonmash in Russia to be overhauled into type 81-717.2K/714.2K. The first train reentered service in March 2017, with the original DC motors replaced by Japanese Hitachi VVVF traction systems and motors. The remaining trains were delivered by August 2018. The 81-717.2K/714.2K trains look very similar to type 81-717.6/714.6 of the Moscow Metro on the outside. The units on line 2 were replaced by modern Alstom Metropolis vehicles.
In 1982, during Leonid Brezhniev's visit to the Polish People's Republic (a satellite state of the USSR), a contract was signed for the delivery of 90 rail-cars for the planned Warsaw Metro, portrayed as a gift to the Polish nation. Only ten 81-717.3/714.3 cars produced by Metrovagonmash in Mytishchi in 1989 were actually delivered to Poland. Before the first segment of the metro was opened in 1994 an additional 32 cars of the same type were purchased from Vagonmash in Sankt Petersburg, there designated as 81-572/81-573. The rail-cars were used to form 14 three-car train-sets operating with 5-minute intervals during peak-hours. In 1995 an additional 18 cars were ordered to extend the train-sets to four cars and add a fifteenth train-set by 1998. Since 2000 the metro began purchasing modern Alstom Metropolis rolling stock, however in 2005 an additional 30 cars of type 81-714.3 were purchased to extend the existing trains to six cars each and the cars in operation underwent modernization by PESA Bydgoszcz. In a controversial decision in 2007, a final seven new six-car 81-572.2/573.2 train-sets were ordered from Vagonmash.
Since 2012 the metro has been again purchasing modern Siemens Inspiro rolling stock to expand its capacity along with the extending network and in 2020 a contract was signed with Škoda Transportation for 37 new Škoda Varsovia train-sets intended among others to replace the aging 22 trains of series 81. In 2023 the old rail-cars which were still in good technical condition were donated to Kyiv and Kharkiv in Ukraine where such models are still in common use.
Forty-eight cars (twenty-four head ones and twenty-four intermediate ones) of type 81-717.4/714.4 were delivered to Bulgaria in 1989–90, nearly ten years prior to the opening of the capital's metro first line that occurred in on 28 January 1998. At first, the trainsets were formed of three carriages – two head ones and an intermediate one (due to small passenger numbers), while nowadays the trains are formed of four carriages – the head ones with side numbers from 1004 to 1024, while the intermediate ones with side numbers from 5001 to 5024 respectively. However, between 2005 and 2013 the Bulgarian metro system had been receiving trains of type 81-740.2/741.2 and 81-740.2B/741.2B, and currently there are only 12 four-car trainsets of type 81-717.4/714.4 and 40 three-car trainsets of type 81-740.2/741.2.
A contract was signed in late 2018 for the modernization of all the 81-717.4/714.4 cars. The first two refurbished trains were delivered in early 2020. They were followed by an additional six modernized trainsets that were delivered in 2021-2022, though the last four remaining trains of the 81-717.4/714.4 type couldn't be modernized due to tensions in Ukraine, starting in February 2022, and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Metrovagonmash by the United States later the same year.
The refurbished Nomernoy trains of the Sofia Metro look very similar to type 81-717.2K/714.2K on Budapest metro line M3, and even have nearly the same name, 81-717.4K/714.4K, though there are a few notable differences in the appearance. For instance, in the Budapest Metro, the driver's cabin has two front windows and the electronic board on the outside is positioned on the left side on the top of the train's head mask, while in the Sofia Metro, the driver's cabin has just one front window and the electronic board on the outside is positioned in the middle on top of the head mask. Also, the visual announcements on the modernized Budapest trainsets are announced on TVs, while on the Sofia ones, there are two electronic boards on each end of the carriage for this purpose.
The life of the refurbished Nomernoy trains of the Sofia Metro was prolonged by at least 15 years, following their modernization.
Since November 2023, Bulgaria is the only post-communist European country where the original Nomernoy metro trains are still in service. In 2023-2024, the Municipality of Sofia ordered a total of 16 trains from Škoda Transportation mainly so that the passenger flow could be eased when new stations are built though also as a whole. The first Škoda trainsets are set to arrive by 2026. This, despite no official statement from the Sofia Municipality for the retirement of older metro trains when this happens, the urgent need of the Škoda sets (thus they probably won't replace any of the existing rolling stock), and the still-standing contract for the modernization of all the 81-717/714 trains of the metropolitan with Metrovagonmash, could still potentially mean the end of the last four non-modernized Sofia Nomernoys (which by then would be over 35 years old).
Both the refurbished and the non-refurbished 81-717/714 trains of the Sofia Metro are used on lines one, two, and four, where they run alongside the Rusich (81-740/741) trainsets, while line three is exclusively served by 30 three-car Siemens Inspiro trains (more are to be delivered in the next few years).
The 81-717/714 cars in the former Soviet Union operate on metro networks with 1,524 mm (5 ft) and 1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in) Russian gauges. The Sofia, Budapest, Warsaw and Prague metro networks use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge. Trains receive power from the third rail via a bottom-contact shoe at either 750 or 825 volts, except in Budapest, which uses top-contact shoes.
The trains usually have a flexible formation, of 2 control cars at each end, and a variable number of trailer cars in the middle. Thus, a train can have only 1 car in the middle, or up to 6, making 3 to 8 car formations. However, a notable exception is on the Yerevan metro, where trains there can operate even with no trailer cars. In addition to this, the 81-717M train, modernized with the help of the Tbilisi ZREPS, has 2 cabs at both ends, as opposed to 1 cab at opposing ends, also used in Yerevan on the Shengavit-Charbakh extension.
Like all metro trains of the now former Soviet Union, the 81-717/714 trains feature longitudinal bench seating, which is placed to the walls of the cars between the doors and an empty central aisle. The passenger area is ventilated with the help of air vents on the roof of the car, along with small sliding windows.
Originally, bench seats with hard leather trim were fitted on these cars, but they were subject to vandalism in the 1990s and 2000s, and thus, the new and the refurbished trains, as well as the later modifications of the model feature vandal-proof seating with a plastic base and leatherette linings, separate for each passenger. Sometimes, metal partitions can be added too. Overall, the bench seats can accommodate as many as 6 people (or 3 at the end sections), which means that seating space in all cars is 40, 44, or 48 (depending on the version of the carriage), while seated.
While there are access doors between each car, passing from one car to the other while the train is moving is very dangerous, and due to this only staff permits such tasks usually. The doors can be used in an emergency, but they are sometimes used by zatsepers (Russian trainsurfers) to climb on the roof of the train on over-ground sections.
As the wear and aging of these trains began to be replaced with newer ones, but in different subways this happened differently , in the Moscow Metro as a replacement first were the trains Rusich, later Oka and Moscow. In Saint Petersburg, 81-556 Nevatrains are used as replacements. In Minsk, the 81-717 train started to run on new Stadler cars manufactured in the Fanipol suburb of Minsk. In Novosibirsk, some 81-717 trains were replaced by 81-540/541 units. In Baku, as well as in Moscow, 81-765 trains are used to replace the 81-717 cars, though 81-765 trains made for the Baku Metro are called Baku.
Many mobile and video games have depicted the metrovagonmash 81-717/714 through the years, some making amazing recreations of the model and its various modifications. There are also many real-life models of such trains around the world.