Why was the Big Circle Line originally nicknamed the Third Interchange Contour? Well, because the first contour includes all interchange stations within the Koltsevaya Line, and the second contour is the Koltsevaya Line itself. So, the name stuck and was commonly used until 2017.
In 2017, the Moscow authorities invited the citizens to decide on the official name of the station. The voting on the “Involved Citizen” portal started on June 21. The turnout was enormous: over 315,000 people took part in the first round.
Over 65,000 names were suggested, with the Big Ring leading by a landslide. Many invented imposing names like the Golden Ring, the Business Ring, the Silver Ring, the Moscow Ring, the Wedding Ring and even the One Ring to Rule Them All. Some toyed with the idea of circular objects: the Orbit, the Hula Hoop, the Ringlet, the Bublik, the Sunny Circle, the Saturn or the Merry-Go-Round. One of the most unexpected suggestions was the SQUARE (KVADRAT in Russian, an acronym of seven stations’ names).
The line is connected to all radial lines of the Moscow Metro, hence the Interchange Ring or the Interchange Line. And since every one of those lines has a distinctive color on the map, a lot of people suggested the Rainbow, the Rainbow Line or even the Matryoshka. The Tryoshka and the Troika were in the top twenty. The Troika, incidentally, echoed the name of the popular smart card.
None of the suggestions, however, rolled up more than 50% of the votes, which was the prerequisite. The most popular names were promoted to the second round. The results were announced on the New Year’s Eve. Of 165,700 voters, one tenth said that the name should be picked by professionals. Over one third voted for sticking to the Third Interchange Contour. The name that later became official was supported by 53.34% of the voters.
65,000 names for the new line were suggested by the voters.
In 2020, when the new line became ingrained in the everyday life of the city, suggestions to rename it started to circulate among the citizens. One of the arguments was that the official name was too vague and had been picked prematurely, before the full launch. Besides, Moscow already had the Koltsevaya (circular) Line and the Moscow Central Circle. Was it not too many circles for one city? Others insisted that the name was good and fitting, and they were no less numerous.
It has recently become practice to collect the citizens’ opinions on the names of various objects of infrastructure. The authorities are open to suggestions. Perhaps someone who uses the line on a daily basis comes up with a better name for it. Time will tell. For now, the official name is the one chosen by the majority. The word “big” in the Big Circle Line is a hint at the importance and the sheer scale of the project, while the colloquial nickname the Big Ring brings to mind the romantic appeal of the Garden Ring or the Boulevard Ring.
From “The Big Circle Line of the Moscow Metro”. Newsletter of the Moscow Construction Complex