Moscow to complete contactless ticketing rollout by end 2021

Moscow Metro Troika transit card
CONTACTLESS: Moscow travellers will be able to store and use their Troika card on any medium with an RFID chip

The city of Moscow will complete the modernisation of its integrated contactless ticketing system across all transit networks by the end of 2021, its deputy mayor for transport Maksim Liksutov has announced.

The Russian capital’s fare payment service supports “bank cards of virtually all payment systems” as well as Huawei Pay, Mir Pay, Alipay, China UnionPay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay.

The system will also enable passengers to store and use their Troika transit card “on any medium with a RFID chip including their office ID cards or fitness bracelet” and to top up their Troika card via NFC with their iPhone — a service currently available to Android users only.

The Moscow government decided to update its ticketing system in 2018 when “it became evident… that the old ticketing system did not meet today’s demands and it was increasingly difficult to refine it,” Liksutov explains.

“Moreover, it did not let us integrate the ticketing systems of Metro and on-surface transport, commercial carriers and regional transport.”

Moscow Metro began letting Google Pay users pay fares without unlocking their phones in December 2020.

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