DEMONSTRATION services began running on Russia's first monorail on November 20, following the award of an operating certificate earlier in the month.

According to Moscow Deputy Mayor Petr Aksenov, revenue service on the 8·6 km elevated line will start early in 2005. Connecting Timiryazevskaya metro station in the north of the city with the national exhibition centre, the monorail has six stations; it is designed to handle 7500 passengers/h in each direction. Prototype cars were built in Switzerland, but most of the rolling stock has been assembled locally.

The line has been built as part of the preparations for the 2010 Expo, which is to be held at the fairground.