- Address: Santiago, Chile;
- Stations: 108;
- Length: more than 100 km;
- Opening date: September 15, 1975.
In Santiago , 5.5 million people live, so the metropolitan residents could not move comfortably without the metro. The modern underground railway consists of five branches, the shortest is 7.7 km long, and the longest - 30 km. The total length of the subway routes is 110 km.
General information
In the second half of the twentieth century, a demographic boom occurred in Santiago and the number of residents increased dramatically, so the government needed to work swiftly to develop the urban infrastructure, as the residents of the capital became crowded and land-based transport was not enough to serve them. In 1944, for the first time, the idea of building an underground railway appeared.
The opening of the Santiago metro was in September 1975. Then the first line was launched, which connected the west and east of the city, its length at that time was 8.2 km. Interestingly, the construction of the first branch ended only in 2010.
To date, the metropolitan metro has 108 stations and daily, subway services, enjoys more than 2 million residents and tourists. But even this is not enough, as the number of local residents, like tourists, increases every year. Therefore, by 2018 it is planned to build two more branches, the length of which will be 15 and 22 km. Thus, the number of metro stations will increase by 28. To date, the subway Santiago is the third largest in Latin America in terms of length and judging by the pace of its development, it will soon be able to boldly claim the second place.
Another interesting fact: the subway has eight interchange stations, the foyer of which is decorated with photographic works and sculptures by Chilean masters. Perhaps, in this way, the Santiago government wants to introduce the city's guests to local art.
Information for tourists
Tourists planning to use the Metro Santiago should be aware of its difficult schedule:
- Monday-Friday: from 5:35 am to 00:08 am;
- Saturday: 6:30 to 00:08;
- Sunday: from 8:00 (some stations from 9:00) to 23:48.
The Metropolitan in Santiago works strictly on schedule, even pedantic Germans can envy his discipline, so in this case even a minute decides a lot.
Going to the cashiers the tourist who descended to the metro in the capital for the first time can be surprised to see that the cost of one counter is $ 670. Actually, it costs 1.35 USD, that is 670 pesos, just a symbol of the Chilean national currency, the same as the dollar.