The railway connecting Moscow and Smolensk was constructed in 1859 and opened in 1870. It was first known as Moscow — Smolensk railway, and since November 1871, when it was extended to
Brest, as Moscow — Brest railway. The section between Moscow and Kuntsevo (which then was a separate town, currently
Kuntsevskaya railway station) was electrified in November 1943. The electrification was extended to Setun in 1944, Odintsovo in 1947, Golitsyno in 1949, Zvenigorod in 1950, and Borodino in 1959. The whole track to the border with Belarus and further is electrified, and the suburban service technically could be extended to Smolensk. However, direct suburban trains from Moscow to
Gagarin and
Vyazma were discontinued in 2015. On 21 November 2019
Moscow Central Diameters started operation. Simultaneously, a direct connection to the
Kursky suburban railway line was closed for passenger traffic. ==Stations==