Celebrate the Moscow metro’s 80th birthday with a journey through the city’s history – in pictures

When it opened on 15 May 1935, the Moscow metro was a subterranean Communist paradise: its chandeliers, marble, intricate mosaics and heroic statues created an opulent space that was accessible for the city’s workers. Eighty years on, it transports up to nine million people a day, with expansion plans set to make it the world’s fourth largest subway system by 2020