About us
The Moscow Transport Museum is a vibrant public space dedicated to research and addressing a crucial question: What propels the city forward? As the urban landscape evolves continuously, we evolve alongside it.
The Moscow Transport Museum houses the largest collection of historic urban vehicles. Its archives contain over 250 exhibits, including passenger cars, trucks, taxis, buses, and trolleybuses, municipal service vehicles, legendary “polutorki” (1.5-ton trucks) and “trekhtonki” (3-ton trucks), bicycles and motorcycles.
The scale and preservation quality of its collection places the Moscow Transport Museum alongside world-renowned transportation museums in Lucerne, London, New York, and Beijing.
The Moscow Transport Museum houses the largest collection of historic urban vehicles. Its archives contain over 250 exhibits, including passenger cars, trucks, taxis, buses, and trolleybuses, municipal service vehicles, legendary “polutorki” (1.5-ton trucks) and “trekhtonki” (3-ton trucks), bicycles and motorcycles.
The scale and preservation quality of its collection places the Moscow Transport Museum alongside world-renowned transportation museums in Lucerne, London, New York, and Beijing.
Permanent exhibition
The Melnikov Garage: Architectural Icon Reborn
The former freight vehicle garage designed by architect Konstantin Melnikov stands as the Moscow Transport Museum’s centerpiece exhibit — a structural marvel that will inspire the museum’s future exhibitions.
Located at 27 Novoryazanskaya Street, this triangular plot near Kazansky Station houses Melnikov’s second transport depot, co-engineered with Vladimir Shukhov. Commissioned by Moscow’s Municipal Services after their acclaimed Bakhmetevsky Garage project, the duo reimagined industrial design: the horseshoe-shaped structure (often likened to the Soviet hammer-and-sickle emblem) accommodated 260 trucks via Melnikov’s pioneering one-way traffic system, eliminating complex maneuvers.
The former freight vehicle garage designed by architect Konstantin Melnikov stands as the Moscow Transport Museum’s centerpiece exhibit — a structural marvel that will inspire the museum’s future exhibitions.
Located at 27 Novoryazanskaya Street, this triangular plot near Kazansky Station houses Melnikov’s second transport depot, co-engineered with Vladimir Shukhov. Commissioned by Moscow’s Municipal Services after their acclaimed Bakhmetevsky Garage project, the duo reimagined industrial design: the horseshoe-shaped structure (often likened to the Soviet hammer-and-sickle emblem) accommodated 260 trucks via Melnikov’s pioneering one-way traffic system, eliminating complex maneuvers.
Engineering Breakthroughs
Column-Free Hall: Shukhov’s openwork roof design — supported solely by external walls — created unprecedented open interiors, revolutionizing warehouse architecture.
Avant-Garde Legacy: Recognized as a globally unique avant-garde masterpiece, the garage served freight logistics until 1948, later repurposed as Moscow’s 4th Bus Depot.
New Life as a Museum
Currently undergoing restoration, the Melnikov Garage will reopen in 2025 as the Moscow Transport Museum’s flagship space, blending historic preservation with cutting-edge exhibition design.
Column-Free Hall: Shukhov’s openwork roof design — supported solely by external walls — created unprecedented open interiors, revolutionizing warehouse architecture.
Avant-Garde Legacy: Recognized as a globally unique avant-garde masterpiece, the garage served freight logistics until 1948, later repurposed as Moscow’s 4th Bus Depot.
New Life as a Museum
Currently undergoing restoration, the Melnikov Garage will reopen in 2025 as the Moscow Transport Museum’s flagship space, blending historic preservation with cutting-edge exhibition design.
'“Our new space will transform the museum into a versatile cultural hub — an immersive theater experience where visitors explore transport’s past and future, a platform for intercultural initiatives, and a stage for groundbreaking collaborations.
We’ll narrate Moscow’s story through its iconic vehicles, sparking dialogues about ecology, sustainable community practices, and human bonds. These conversations are already underway: long before unveiling our reimagined exhibitions, the museum is actively engaging audiences across Moscow’s key venues.”
Oksana Bondarenko,
Director of the Moscow Transport Museum
We’ll narrate Moscow’s story through its iconic vehicles, sparking dialogues about ecology, sustainable community practices, and human bonds. These conversations are already underway: long before unveiling our reimagined exhibitions, the museum is actively engaging audiences across Moscow’s key venues.”
Oksana Bondarenko,
Director of the Moscow Transport Museum
Place`s history
Garage at Novoryazanskaya Street, 27 is the second transport area by Konstantin Melnikov, built in collaboration with engineer Vladimir Shukhov. The building is considered a masterpiece of constructivism that has no alternatives in the world. Melnikov accepted an order for the design from the Moscow municipal services immediately after the creation of the Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage, where the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center is located today, but this time the task was solved in a new way. This is how a horseshoe building appeared on the triangular section behind the Kazansky railway station, which was compared to a hammer and sickle in Soviet times. It held up to 260 trucks, which moved through space without the need for turns according to the direct-flow system invented by Melnikov.
The new space of the Moscow Transport Museum will include a permanent exhibition that will open after the restoration of the museum infrastructure.
The new space of the Moscow Transport Museum will include a permanent exhibition that will open after the restoration of the museum infrastructure.
Preopening
On January 28, 2020, before the building was closed for restoration, we remembered its history, looked into the past and went to the future. The architectural monument has become a platform for the only show of a theatrical and musical performance dedicated to the birth and collapse of the ideals of the twentieth century.
For the new space of the Moscow Transport Museum, composer Alexei Sysoev created a bespoke symphonic work 'The Beginning of the Movement', which includes fragments and arrangements of the main musical creations of the Constructivists. The main character of the 'polyphonic promenade' was the architectural masterpiece, atmosphere, and history. Moving from one part of the building to another, the audience fell into the musical and light stream of time, which carried them from the 20s of the twentieth century to the 20s of the new millennium. Through the era of high hopes into the harsh reality of everyday work, where tension was pressed by the power of a percussion solo on springs. The end of the central episode was the transition to a critical point for the country – the dramatic nineties, behind which the present opened up.
The theatrical performance took the participants through the century to the new chronology of the building`s life. The only show of this performance was not only a presentation of the future stage of development of the Moscow Transport Museum but also an opportunity to pay tribute to the architectural and engineering ideas of Konstantin Melnikov and Vladimir Shukhov, who gave their descendants a unique heritage that is filled with new meaning.
For the new space of the Moscow Transport Museum, composer Alexei Sysoev created a bespoke symphonic work 'The Beginning of the Movement', which includes fragments and arrangements of the main musical creations of the Constructivists. The main character of the 'polyphonic promenade' was the architectural masterpiece, atmosphere, and history. Moving from one part of the building to another, the audience fell into the musical and light stream of time, which carried them from the 20s of the twentieth century to the 20s of the new millennium. Through the era of high hopes into the harsh reality of everyday work, where tension was pressed by the power of a percussion solo on springs. The end of the central episode was the transition to a critical point for the country – the dramatic nineties, behind which the present opened up.
The theatrical performance took the participants through the century to the new chronology of the building`s life. The only show of this performance was not only a presentation of the future stage of development of the Moscow Transport Museum but also an opportunity to pay tribute to the architectural and engineering ideas of Konstantin Melnikov and Vladimir Shukhov, who gave their descendants a unique heritage that is filled with new meaning.
The main Museum topics
Historical Legacy
Transport history mirrors the evolution of Moscow, Russia, and its people. The exhibition will emphasize interconnected generational experiences and shared values.
Green Mobility
Focusing on transport’s ecological impact, this theme explores sustainable technologies and fostering climate-conscious urban development.
Cityscape Evolution
As cities transform, we aim to create spaces for dialogue about global urbanization challenges and opportunities.
Transport Heritage
The permanent collection showcases iconic vehicles as symbols of collective memory, bridging past innovations with future aspirations.
Urban Synergy
Investigating urban ecosystems as living networks, this theme frames the city as both a habitat and a platform for societal interaction.
Metropolitan Legends
Public transport vehicles — buses, trams, trolleybuses — are portrayed as cultural protagonists in films and stories that shape collective identity.
Transport history mirrors the evolution of Moscow, Russia, and its people. The exhibition will emphasize interconnected generational experiences and shared values.
Green Mobility
Focusing on transport’s ecological impact, this theme explores sustainable technologies and fostering climate-conscious urban development.
Cityscape Evolution
As cities transform, we aim to create spaces for dialogue about global urbanization challenges and opportunities.
Transport Heritage
The permanent collection showcases iconic vehicles as symbols of collective memory, bridging past innovations with future aspirations.
Urban Synergy
Investigating urban ecosystems as living networks, this theme frames the city as both a habitat and a platform for societal interaction.
Metropolitan Legends
Public transport vehicles — buses, trams, trolleybuses — are portrayed as cultural protagonists in films and stories that shape collective identity.
