Santo Domingo Metro

The Santo Domingo Metro is a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major "National Master Plan" to improve transportation in Santo Domingo as well as the rest of the nation. On February 27, 2008, the first line of the subway system (which was planned to relieve traffic congestion in the Máximo Gómez and Hermanas Mirabal Avenue) was officially inaugurated, and commercial service is planned to start by November 15, 2008. In addition to the first line, the construction of 5 more lines is expected to complete the Mass Transportation System for Santo Domingo (making this a total of 6).

Approval and Construction

President Leonel Fernández proposed and started the construction of the first subway system in the Dominican Republic and second in the Caribbean. The project was prompted by the need to reduce the continually rising heavy road traffic congestion, as well as the current disorganized and inefficient public transportation system, and air pollution which severely affects productive time and health of the citizens of the city. The system will complement other forms of public transportation such as OMSA (Metropolitan Office of Buses Services) buses, with the government estimating that around 100 feeder buses will be in service. The first line of the mass-transit system has sixteen stations; 6 elevated, 10 underground and a total route length of 14.5 km (9.6 miles). It connects Villa Mella (north of the city) with La Feria (south of the city), which is expected to bring relief to the current public transport system of Santo Domingo. Daily ridership is expected to be a maximum of about 200,000 passengers for the first line. According to an Opret press release, the first line will be opened commercially for use in November or December¹.

In the presidential elections that took place on May, 16, 2008, President Leonel Fernández was re-elected for his second consecutive term. However, even long before this a company that studies land composition has been drilling holes specifically around the area were Line 2 ( along the JFK avenue and V Centenario) is to be planned. Even though the OPRET and the government has said that the drilling are not related to any approved official construction of the line, there is still doubts from the people.

Trainsets

French firm Alstom will supply a total of 19 Alstom Metropolis 9000 three-car trainsets (57 cars) from its factories in Belgium, France and Spain in a contract worth 92.5 million euros².

The first train was shipped from Barcelona in December 2007 and arrived on January 3, 2008. The standard gauge units have air-conditioning, CCTV and passenger information, and can accommodate 617 passengers per trainset³. The trains will initially consist of 3 cars, but all stations are being built to accommodate 6 car trains in anticipation of expected future ridership demands. 17 trainsets will normally be in service, with 2 sets as spares⁴.

Unlike most other rapid transportation systems, the SDM will not have a third rail and instead will collect its current from an overhead line system.

Criticism

The Dominican Republic is a nation with stable economic growth but lacks many basic services⁵.It has limited resources and inadequate infrastructure. There are precarious electrical, water, sewage, health and public education issues that should be addressed, as well as employment generation and rapid rural to urban migration⁶.

Citizens are debating whether the Santo Domingo's Metro mega investment is a good idea, if the metro will still be working six months after its introduction, and its affordability. Despite the criticism, President Leonel Fernández has said it will work and will help the Dominican population.

Political opposition leaders said that this construction will take sources from the budget of the Ministry of Education, Public Health, etc., leaving them without enough money to operate adequately during the construction of the Santo Domingo Metro ⁷.

In fact, as of February 2008, the budget allocated for the Santo Domingo Metro was higher than the added budget of three important ministries and 5 pivotal governmental institutions, including the ministry of superior education, science and technology. For example, during the single month of February, the Santo Domingo Metro received more than 231 million pesos (7 million US dollars), while during the month of January, it received twice that amount. ⁸

On February 27, 2008 (Dominican Independence Day), President Fernández went for a ceremonial ride over the length of the new metro.⁹. The inauguration did not go as smooth as it could have because of the disorganized proselytistic nature of the inauguration (it was used as part of the political campaign for his reelection on May 16, 2008). The mass of spectators and people wishing to check out the new system caused some minor structural damage to glass dividers and also many got sick because of the heat and the tumult.¹⁰

Accolades

The Metro will be run as an independent institution from the debt-ridden Dominican government; as such it will be run as a self-sufficient vs. State-funded capitalistic enterprise. Up to this point the cost per km constructed is a remarkable achievement compared to similar existing international projects. The recent signing of the modification to the Law 125-01, making it a felony to steal electrical services, without a doubt, will allow the energy providers to meet the continuous electrical demands of the users without the disruption all too normal nowadays. The DR produces more energy than it consumes and part of the problem has been addressed with that modification to the existing Law. The addressing of the second problem of loss in transit is currently underway via the construction of an electrical superhighway from the north of the country where most of the production goes to the Santo Domingo metro area and upgrades to the system.

Station locations

On September 23, 2007, President Leonel Fernández while on a trip around the east coast of the USA announced that stations on the Santo Domingo Metro will not be named by streets but instead will be named in honor of important historical people of the Dominican Republic. On February 25, during the final testing before the official inauguration of the line by President Fernández, Ing. Diandino Peña announced the official names for the stations as stated below¹¹.

Public art

The Station at Teatro Nacional has a large Mezzanine and will have works of art representing Dominican culture and modern art, Centro de los Héroes would have the same too.

Future extensions

There is a subsequent construction phase to extend the rail system service within Santo Domingo by adding 5 more lines after Line 1 is finished and tested. The lines already planned are:

Line 2 – Will run east-west under John F. Kennedy Avenue, from the farthest metropolitan stretch of the city to the eastern part of the city, Santo Domingo Este and outskirts Los Alcarrizos. Land studies began as early as February 2008 soon after President Fernández test ran line 1. The line would be underground in its 22 km run.

Line 3 – Will pass by the city Center and under 27 de Febrero Avenue (which is considered the main business thoroughfare in the city) and reach across the Ozama River to Santo Domingo Este.

Line 4 - Will run north-south under Gregorio Luperon Avenue from La Plaza de la Bandera to Kilometer 9 of the Duarte Highway connecting lines 2 and 3 in the west of the city.

Line 5 - Will run north-south under San Vicente de Paul Avenue from the Las Americas Highway intersection to Mella Road connecting lines 2 and 3 in the east of the city.

Line 6 - Will run south-east branching out of line 2 at the San Martin Avenue intersection and ending at the Colonial Zone. The exact route of this line is not yet known.

National Master Plan

On these same notes the Santo Domingo Metro project is not a local or otherwise single phase plan. As allowed by the head of the administration in charge of the project under construction in the national district of Santo Domingo, the Metro is a "National Master Plan" to be done in phases accordingly extending from the initial first line to link the entire National territory with a Mass-Transit system. The "Master Plan" as it was referred to by Diandino Peña (Head Administrator of OPRET) is an ambitious and economically feasible phase by phase plan to be continued for the next 50 years or more to advance the country's transit networks.

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