►►Mapping change: The Mayor of Moscow hand colours the new line to the system's 187th station. Picture: Tass TV◀◀

The latest extension to Moscow's metro system was revealed this week, 24 December 2012, when the city's newest station opened.

Alma-Atinskaya is on the Zamoskvoretskaya line which runs to Brateyevo in the south-east suburbs.

As part of the opening ceremony, Moscow's mayor Sergei Sobyanin drew the extension on to the Moscow metro map.

The new metro station has been named in memory of the Red Army divisions that were formed in the then Soviet republic of Kazakhstan to fight the Nazis during the Second World War. Almaty was the capital of Kazakstan, which is now an independent country with a new capital, Astana.

The Moscow metro was established in 1935 and has expanded in 2012, with five miles of line added. It now has 187 stations compared to 270 on London's Underground. Over the next five years, Moscow hopes to add another 50 miles of line and work is already under way on 19 new stations.

It is said to be the world's third busiest system, after Tokyo and Seoul.

In an attempt to cope with more passengers, some new Moscow trains are to be fitted with seats which can be folded up in the rush hour to make way for more standing passengers.

Moscow metro

Moscow metro map