Moscow in the Middle

The view from Moscow’s newest passenger railroad is not picturesque.

The Moscow Central Ring Railroad snakes 34 miles past power stations, road junctions and abandoned industrial zones in a circle through Moscow’s middle – a former industrial belt between its historic center and the endless Soviet-era apartment blocks on the outskirts, where most people live.

Dilapidated buildings, construction sites and smokestacks are visible through the windows of the brand new trains, the same model as used to ferry guests around the Black Sea resort of Sochi for Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympics.