On February 27, 2008, the day of Dominican Independence, the Santo Domingo
metro opened with free rides to its first passengers. After years of controversy
and accusations of theft and mismanagement, the A Train has come to Santo
Domingo.
No one knows what happened to the light rail system that was expected to
open in 2000 in this tiny bastion of democracy. On 2/12/1999, the
Santo Domingo government announced the start of construction on the new
Santo Domingo Metro Light Rail System. A copy of the article can be found
here.
Expected bidding on the actual light rail vehicles
was to take place in June, 1999. Since then,
a plan for a full-fledged metro rose it's head but many were
skepical.
According to
one source, "The Dominican government signed an agreement with the French Development
Agency for the financing of US$40 million of the total US$150 million cost of a
tramway in Santo Domingo. The agency will also assist the Dominican state in
securing an additional US$40 million from French private investors and a French
pool of banks for the project, for a total of 60% of the system' s cost. The
tramway will run from Kilometer 9 of the Duarte Highway to the Sánchez
Bridge (Puente de la 17), passing along John F. Kennedy Avenue, 27 de Febrero,
on to the Padre Castellanos Street. on the mid-eastern side of the city. A second
South-North tramway is planned for the Máximo Gómez Avenue. The first tramway
would be completed by August 2000, the month when the Fernández administration
ends."
The little circle is Spanish for 'Start drilling here."
If the line had been built, it would have been the first light rail system in
the Caribbean. This dubious honor, even with today's present Line 1, was
snatched by nearby Puerto Rico, which opened its own wannabe clone of the New York City
subway system.
So how does a tiny republic with a pension for sudden utility outages and
neighbor to the poorest country in the world come to build and run a subway
system? Much of the credit goes to Dominican born President Leonel Fernandez who
grew up in New York City. While some speculate that having the name
Leonel brought a train obsession to the
country's leader from birth, most agree that his experience in seeing what the
subway did for New York led to his inspiration to foster the building of a
network for his native Santo Domingo. This former New York straphanger turned
Caribbean politician ignored the mounds of criticism and cut red tape
wherever he found it in order to bring about the operation of a14.5 km, 16
station (10 underground, 5 elevated and one at grade) metro.
Due to the
Blessing of the Subway by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez
(LightRail:4.16 "Do not forsake thy metro. Look away from Bus Rapid Transit for
it deceives; it's rail-like features only mock the true rail that Christ our
Lord hath given us."), it is expected that the line will be baptized in March
and, in order to patronize the Jewish population, Bar-Mitzvahed in about 13
years.
