The Chilean capital of Santiago is served by a rubber tired metro network. In 1996, the three-line metro carried a total of 178 million passengers, a high figure for a city with a population of five million. The first line opened in 1975, followed by the first section of Line 2 in 1978. With the completion of Line 5, the network now totals 37 km serving 49 stations.
Future plans include a 2.8 km extension of Line 5 from Baquedano
to Bellas Artes and Plaza de Armas for 2000. By 2015, extensions of Lines
1, 2 and 5 are planned. Three new lines (3, 4 and 6) are also envisaged,
plus a cross-city Metrotren suburban corridor on existing main line tracks.
A 33 km Line 4 is due to start construction in October 2002, with completion
in the latter half of 2005.
Source:
Tunnelbuilder.com
Photos from the Santiago Metro 1996 annual report
Click on the image for a larger image. Duh!
A new page
on the Santiago Metro
Another page
on the Santiago Metro, in Portuguese
Photo of new
articulated metro tren
A fact filled, image filled page
from Railway Technology
Image from Alsthom's site