The project of a north-south diameter was finalised in the 1971 Moscow General Development Plan, and construction began in the mid-1970s.

Some of the new technical methods employed in the construction of this section included passing from deep alignment to shallow in water-carrying soils.

The stretch between Serpukhovskaya and Tulskaya was further made difficult due gasoline leaks from an above petrol station over the years sufficiently absorbed by the soil such that the high concentration of fumes caused a fire in the unfinished tunnel, this introduced a new practice of adding additional boreholes in areas of difficult ventilation.

This very deep section passed the areas of Yakimanka and Arbat where the first 4-station-transfer in Moscow (nicknamed ABBA, by the first letters of its stations: Aleksandrovsky sad–Borovitskaya–Biblioteka imeni Lenina–Arbatskaya) was set up at in 1986.

Two more stations were built north of Otradnoye, Bibirevo in 1992 and Altufyevo in 1994, making the line the northernmost in the system.

On the opposite Serpukhovsky radius, three more stations were built in the early 2000s in southern part of Chertanovo district: Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya (2000), Annino (2001) and Bulvar Dmitriya Donskogo (2002).

Due to its recent extensions various trains were added to its ever-growing stock, some surplus from other depots, others factory fresh 81-714.5/717.5 and 81-714.5M/717.5M.