Santiago Metro

Santiago Metro
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Santiago_Metro".

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Info
Metro de Santiago

Locale	Santiago
Transit type	Rapid transit
Number of lines	5
Number of stations	107 (16 under construction)
Daily ridership	2.5 million
Operation
Began operation	September 15, 1975
Operator(s)	Empresa de Transporte de Pasajeros Metro S.A.
Technical
System length	84.4 km (20.1 km under construction)

The Santiago Metro symbol located at Escuela Militar station

Metro de Santiago is South America's most extensive metro system. The metro system serves the city of Santiago, Chile. It is a network of five lines connecting a total of 107 stations, some of which are still under construction. The system carries around 2,500,000 passengers per day.

1 History
2 Stations
3 Art in the Metro
4 Pricing and working hours
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
8 WikiLinks

History

Origin and first project

Popular, modern, secure and efficient, it serves a city of 7 million inhabitants. Since its opening in 1975, el Metro has changed the city; it is one of Chile's most important construction projects.

The rapid growth of the population in the city (in 1920, 507,296 habitants; in 1940, 1,073,699 habitants) was the principal factor in the birth of the idea. The first plan was in 1944, but only in 1968 did work begin. The original plan was for 5 lines:

Line 1, between Las Rejas and Escuela Militar by the Alameda, Providencia Avenue and Apoquindo.
Line 2, between Conchalí and San Miguel by Vivaceta, Panamerican Highway and Gran Avenida.
Line 3, between Mapocho and Ñuñoa, by Ahumada and the avenues Matta and Irarrázaval.
Line 4, between Estacion Central (Alameda) and San Bernardo, following the Railway to the South
Line 5, between Los Cerrillos and Ñuñoa, using the Beltway Railway.

Extension

Map

On September 15, 1975, the Metro de Santiago was opened between the stations San Pablo and La Moneda on Line 1. Line 2 was opened in 1978 between Los Héroes and Lo Ovalle, and Line 1 was extended to Escuela Militar in 1980. Line 2 was extended to the north and found the remains of the Cal y Canto Bridge (built in 1782 and destroyed in 1880). The extension between Los Heroes and Cal y Canto (former Mapocho Station) was inaugurated in 1987.

The city had changed since 1968 and the plan had to be changed too. La Florida had become the most populous zone of the city, and the Metro needed to go there. Line 5 was built south from Baquedano along Vicuña Mackenna Avenue and was opened in 1997. The Line 5 was extended in 2000 to the west and entered the historical Centre of the City (Plaza de Armas Station), and in 2004 the extensions of Line 2 to the north and south and Line 5 to the west were opened.

In 2002 the construction of Line 4 and Line 4A began to connect Puente Alto and the southeast of the City to the Red de Metro.

Near the end of 2005, President Ricardo Lagos said that the government will start to plan the construction of another extension of line 5. It would reach to Maipú, one of the municipalities that is farther away from the center of Santiago.

Presently the metro consists of five lines which total 84 kilometres and a total of 82 stations and seven transfer stations: Los Héroes, Baquedano, Santa Ana, Tobalaba, Vicente Valdés, Vicuña Mackenna and La Cisterna. 16 new stations are planned to be opened in the next few years.

	Length	Stations	Opening date	Type
San Pablo - La Moneda	8.2 km	12	15 Sep 1975	Ground level/Underground
La Moneda- Salvador	3.2 km	5	31 Mar 1977	Underground
Los Héroes - Franklin	4.9 km	4	31 Mar 1978	Ground level
Franklin - Lo Ovalle	4.8 km	6	21 Dec 1978	Underground
Salvador - Escuela Militar	4.5 km	6	22 Aug 1980	Underground
Los Héroes - Puente Cal y Canto	1.7 km	2	15 Sep 1987	Ground level
Baquedano - Bellavista de La Florida	10.3 km	11	5 Apr 1997	Underground/Viaduct
Baquedano - Santa Ana	2.7 km	2	4 Mar 2000	Underground
Santa Ana - Quinta Normal	1.9 km	2	31 Mar 2004	Underground
Puente Cal y Canto - Cerro Blanco	1.6 km	2	8 Sep 2004	Underground
Lo Ovalle - La Cisterna	2.1 km	2	22 Dec 2004	Underground
Cerro Blanco - Einstein	1.9 km	2	25 Nov 2005	Underground
Bellavista de La Florida- Vicente Valdés	0.6 km	1	30 Nov 2005	Underground
Vicente Valdés - Plaza de Puente Alto	10.9 km	9	30 Nov 2005	Underground/Viaduct
Tobalaba - Grecia	7.7 km	7	30 Nov 2005	Underground
Grecia - Vicente Valdés	6.1 km	5	2 Mar 2006	Ground level
Vicuña Mackenna - La Cisterna	7.7 km	6	16 Aug 2006	Ground level
Einstein- Vespucio Norte	2.4 km	3	December 2006	Underground
Escuela Militar- Los Domínicos	4 km	3	2009	Underground
Quinta Normal- Pudahuel	7 km	5	2009	Underground
Pudahuel-Plaza de Maipú	7 km	7	2010	Underground/Viaduct
San José de la Estrella	0 km	1	2010	Viaduct
El Sol	0 km	1	2011	Underground

Controversies

As of 2007 (with the whole metropolitan transportation changing to Transantiago), the system was embroiled in a number of scandals, including a class-action lawsuit from commuters who can no longer get to work. Transportation planners substituted new train lines for a number of bus lines, but this has resulted in excessive crowding on the trains. A new fare card was also deployed, but a moratorium had to be declared on bus fares until problems were addressed. The private operators of the system are warning of imminent bankruptcy. ¹

Stations

In bold are junction stations. In italics are stations currently under construction.

Line 1 West to east	Line 2 North to south	Line 4 North to south	Line 4A West to east	Line 5 West to southeast
San Pablo Neptuno Pajaritos Las Rejas Ecuador San Alberto Hurtado Universidad de Santiago Estación Central Unión Latinoamericana República Los Héroes La Moneda Universidad de Chile Santa Lucía Universidad Católica Baquedano Salvador Manuel Montt Pedro de Valdivia Los Leones Tobalaba El Golf Alcántara Escuela Militar Manquehue Hernando de Magallanes Plaza Los Domínicos	Vespucio Norte Zapadores Dorsal Einstein Cementerios Cerro Blanco Patronato Puente Cal y Canto Santa Ana Los Héroes Toesca Parque O'Higgins Rondizzoni Franklin El Llano San Miguel Lo Vial Departamental Ciudad del Niño Lo Ovalle El Parrón La Cisterna	Tobalaba Cristóbal Colón Francisco Bilbao Príncipe de Gales Simón Bolívar Plaza Egaña Los Orientales Grecia Los Presidentes Quilín Las Torres Macul Vicuña Mackenna Vicente Valdés Rojas Magallanes Trinidad San José de la Estrella Los Quillayes Elisa Correa Hospital Sótero del Río Protectora de la Infancia Las Mercedes Plaza de Puente Alto	La Cisterna San Ramón Santa Rosa La Granja Santa Julia Vicuña Mackenna	Plaza de Maipú Santiago Bueras El Sol Monte Tabor Las Parcelas Laguna Sur Barrancas Pudahuel San Pablo Lo Prado Blanqueado Gruta de Lourdes Quinta Normal Cumming Santa Ana Plaza de Armas Bellas Artes Baquedano Parque Bustamante Santa Isabel Irarrázaval Ñuble Rodrigo de Araya Carlos Valdovinos Camino Agrícola San Joaquín Pedrero Mirador Bellavista de La Florida Vicente Valdés

Art in the Metro

The Metro not only functions as a transport system: it also has a cultural, artistic and social function.

Art is an important element in the stations. The station Universidad de Chile has a giant mural created by Mario Toral and represents the history of the country. Other pieces of art are in Baquedano (featuring modern art and a concert space), Bellas Artes (multimedia art), Santa Lucía (Portuguese azulejos, a gift made by the Lisbon Metro), La Moneda (with realistic painting representing typical landscape), and various other stations.

Pricing and working hours

The Metro de Santiago sells tickets from 6:00 to 23:30 Monday through Saturday and 8:00 to 22:30 on Sundays. The fare depends on the time of the use of the Metro. The cost of a ticket in the unitario (rush hour, 7:00-8:59:59 and 18:00-19:59:59) is $420 (US $ 0.76) and in the unitario rebajado (6:30-7:14:59, 9:00-17:59:59, 19:30-22:30 and Sat–Sun) is $380 (US $0.69). Senior citizens (65 and older) and school and university students pay $130 (US $0.24).