AI Goes Underground: Samara Uses Smart Video Analytics to Boost Metro Safety
Samara has launched a pilot project in its metro system that could reshape how public transport safety is managed across Russian regions, showing how AI-driven monitoring is moving from concept to everyday urban infrastructure.
Beyond “Smart” Cameras
A new Russian digital security system based on real-time neural network video analysis has been deployed at Alabinskaya, Rossiyskaya, and Pobeda metro stations in Samara. The system operates autonomously, without continuous human supervision, identifying suspicious behavior, potentially dangerous situations, and anomalies in passenger flow. These include unattended objects, early signs of conflict, or irregular human behavior patterns. The result is faster response times and a tangible reduction in safety risks for passengers.
The Samara municipal transport department’s decision to implement the solution highlights the maturity of Russia’s AI technologies. Public transport is critical infrastructure where the cost of error is extremely high. The fact that domestic software can process video streams continuously and make reliable analytical judgments in real time demonstrates its readiness for mission-critical environments.
From Facial Payments to Crime Detection
Metro systems are used daily by more than 10 million people across Russia, making security and passenger convenience a top priority. As a result, advanced AI-powered video surveillance has become an increasingly common tool.
In Moscow, biometric Face Pay is already available across all metro and MCC stations, allowing passengers to pass through turnstiles simply by looking at a camera. More than 5,000 cameras operate across the Moscow metro network. Over the past five years, video analytics systems have helped identify 17,000 criminal suspects and locate more than 2,000 missing persons. Neural networks are even capable of detecting individuals in the crowd who may suddenly require medical assistance.
Smart video surveillance systems are also successfully operating in the Saint Petersburg and Novosibirsk metro systems. Samara’s pilot shows that advanced AI solutions are no longer limited to megacities. In the near future, facial recognition cameras are expected to be installed at additional Samara metro stations.
These systems are planned to be integrated with the Safe City platform, enabling faster searches for individuals and real-time transmission of emergency and infrastructure incident data to response services. Further integration with payment systems and municipal control centers could ultimately form a unified digital security and service environment.
AI on Duty Around the Clock
The launch of the Samara system marks a step toward the centralized integration of artificial intelligence into everyday urban operations. AI effectively becomes a permanent member of the security team, working 24/7 without fatigue or downtime. The project strengthens technological sovereignty in a highly sensitive domain and underscores that Russia’s digital transformation increasingly relies on domestic solutions rather than imported technologies.
Russian intelligent video monitoring systems, validated in complex environments such as metro networks, have clear export potential. They may prove attractive to CIS countries and other developing states actively modernizing urban infrastructure and seeking scalable, cost-efficient public safety technologies.
