Трамвай А

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The car and the metro are the most common means of transportation in Moscow, but there still are many trams and trolley buses. Around Patriarch's Ponds there are no rails, so there is no risk of being decapitated. There never even was a tramway.


Line «A»

However, near Чистые пруды [Chistye Prudy] or Clean Ponds, Line «A» had been running again since 1997, when the 850th anniversary of the city of Moscow was celebrated. All the other lines had a number, but this one did not. The «A» stood for Аннушка [Annushka], and the carriages were painted with characters from The Master and Margarita. The journey was considerably shorter than in 1911 when the line was used for the first time At that time, it went along the entire Boulevard Ring. Now it goes from  Chistye Prudy metro station to the river, the old Zamoskvaresye district and the Danilov convent to the Oktyabrskaya metro station close to Gorky Park.

One of the cars wa called Трактиръ Аннушка [Traktir Annushka] or Café Annushka. This tram set ran circular routes around Chistye Prudy. You could enjoy a decent meal and a drink there in a cosy setting at reasonable prices, from noon to «the last customer».

Annushka, trams and The Master and Margarita… it will always be a risky combination, also on Saturday, May 19, 2007, when I decided to have another ride on tramway Annushka. It was a wonderful day with a bright sun over Moscow and the food was delicious - though the white wine could have been a little chillier. But all of the sudden the passengers were startled by an impact and the sound of breaking metal. A Ford Mondeo which wanted to turn to the left, along with the tramway, in the direction of Makarenko street, «slipped» and got pushed against the streetcar. Slipped? That’s what the driver said. It looks like Annushka moved her field of activity from Patriarchs’ Prudy to Chistye Prudy.

Click here to see Café Annoeshka in action.


Although the regular tram line «A» (still affectionately known as Annushka) remains one of the city’s oldest and most iconic tram lines, the travelling bistro is, sadly, a thing of the past. The tram was forced to close its doors in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. After a years-long search for a buyer and problems with licences for the ageing tram set, the iconic tram was finally taken to a scrapyard at the end of 2023 and scrapped.