Chile (original) (raw)

Metro
Gran Santiago, the metropolitan area of the Chilean capital, has 6.1 million inhabitants. The city lies 110 km from the Pacific Ocean (Valparaíso). In 1968 the decision was taken to build a rubber-tyred metro system with 5 lines and totalling 60 km, which by the end of 2023 had grown to roughly 140 km:
	Line 1 San Pablo - Los Dominicos	19.8 km - almost entirely underground
Photos © (1) Santiago Vera, (2-3) Juan Pablo Arias, (4) Stephen Knight \| More photos
	Line 2 Vespucio Norte - Hospital El Pino	24.7 km - 20.7 km underground
Photos © (1-2) Santiago Vera, (3-5) Juan Pablo Arias \| More photos
	Line 3 Plaza Quilicura - Fernando Castillo Velasco	23.8 km - driverless
CAF has supplied and maintains 115 cars for Line 3 and 70 for Line 6. They are equipped with CBTC provided by Thales for driverless operation.
More photos
	Line 4 Tobalaba - Pl. Puente Alto	24.7 km - steel wheels, partly underground and partly at grade/elevated
Photos © (1-5) Juan Pablo Arias \| More photos
	Line 4A V. Mackenna - La Cisterna	7.7 km, at grade/elevated
Photos © (1-3) Bob Anderson \| More photos
	Line 5 Plaza de Maipú - Vicente Valdés	30.7 km
Photos (1) © (1) Santiago Vera, (2-5) Juan Pablo Arias \| More photos
	Line 6 Cerrillos - Los Leones	15.3 km - driverless
More photos
History
15 Sept 1975: Line 1 - San Pablo - La Moneda (8.2 km) 31 Mar 1977: Line 1 - La Moneda - Salvador (3.2 km) 31 Mar 1978: Line 2 - Los Héroes - Franklin (4.9 km) 21 Dec 1978: Line 2 Franklin - Lo Ovalle (4.8 km) 22 Aug 1980: Line 1 - Salvador - Escuela Militar (4.5 km) 15 Sept 1987: Line 2 - Los Héroes - Cal y Canto (1.7 km) 05 April 1997: Line 5 - Baquedano - Bellavista de la Florida (10.3 km) 03 Mar 2000: Line 5 - Baquedano - Santa Ana (2.8 km) 31 Mar 2004: Line 5 Santa Ana - Quinta Normal (2 km) 08 Sept 2004: Line 2 Cal y Canto - Cerro Blanco (1.6 km) 22 Dec 2004: Line 2 Lo Ovalle - La Cisterna (2.3 km) 25 Nov 2005: Line 2 Cerro Blanco - Einstein (1.9 km)30 Nov 2005: Line 4 Tobalaba - Grecia (7.7 km) and Vicente Valdés - Plaza Puente Alto (10.9 km) 30 Nov 2005: Line 5 Bellavista de la Florida - Vicente Valdés (0.9 km)02 Mar 2006: Line4 Grecia - Vicente Valdés (6.1 km) 16 Aug 2006: Line 4A Vicuña Mackenna - La Cisterna (7.7 km) 21 Dec 2006: Line 2 Einstein - Vespucio Norte (2.4 km) 05 Nov 2009: Line4 San Jos de la Estrella station added 07 Jan 2010: Line 1 Escuela Militar - Los Dominicos (3.8 km) 12 Jan 2010: Line 5 Quinta Normal - Pudahuel (5.6 km) 03 Feb 2011: Line 5 Pudahuel - Plaza de Maipú (8.6 km) 02 Nov 2017: Line 6 Cerrillos - Los Leones (15.3 km) 22 Jan 2019: Line 3 Los Libertadores - Fdo. Castillo Velasco (20 km) 25 Sept 2023: Line 3 Los Libertadores - Plaza Quilicura (3.8 km) 27 Nov 2023: Line 2 La Cisterna - Hospital El Pino (5.2 km)
Projects
A second east-west line, L7, is under construction. It will run parallel to L1 through the northern parts of the city, providing interchange with other lines at Puente Cal y Canto (L2, L3), Baquedano (L1, L5) and Salvador (L1). L6 is to be extended southwest to Lo Err zuriz to create an interchange with the future suburban line to Melipilla, and northeast to Torre Titanium (Vitacura/Isidora Goyenechea) where it will meet L7. Plans for lines 8 and 9 have been revealed. A second suburban line, el Tren Melipilla, heading southwest from Estación Central (Alameda) to Melipilla. [Website]
Metrotrén Nos
A fully integrated S-Bahn service was launched on 17 March 2017 on the upgraded section of the railway line to Rancagua and Chillán, providing a dense suburban service within the metropolitan area, from Estación Central (Alameda) to Nos. Trains run every 6 min during peak hours and every 10 minutes off-peak, with a journey time of 24 minutes.

Links
Metro de Santiago (Official Page) incl. new extensions Transantiago Metrotrén (Suburban Rail) en Tren Central (EFE) Metro Santiago en Wikipedia (Spanish) Alamys - Metro de Santiago Page Santiago Metro Gallery Photologs by Juan Pablo Arias (L1 \| L2	L4	L5)

(1-4) Stephen Knight