The Santiago Metro () is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S.A. and is the first rapid transit system in the country.
The Santiago Metro carries around 2.5 million passengers daily. This figure represents an increase of more than a million passengers per day compared to 2007, when the ambitious Transantiago project was launched, in which the metro plays an important role in the public transport system serving the city. Its highest passenger peak was reached on 2 May 2019, reaching 2,951,962 passengers.
In June 2017 the government announced plans for the construction of Line 7, connecting Renca in the northwest of Santiago with Vitacura in the northeast. The new line will add and 19 new stations to the Metro network, running along the municipalities of Renca, Cerro Navia, Quinta Normal, Santiago, Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura. Its cost has been initially estimated at US$2.53 bn, and it is projected to open in 2028.
Santiago Metro is the second largest metro system in Latin America after the Mexico City Metro, and the sixth largest rail system in the Americas by ridership after the New York City Subway, Mexico City Metro, São Paulo Metro, São Paulo Metropolitan Trains Company and Caracas Metro.
In March 2012, the Santiago Metro was chosen as the best underground system in the Americas, after being honoured at the annual reception held by Metro Rail in London.
History and development Early projections and construction of Line 1
The idea of constructing an underground railway network in Santiago dates back to 1944 when efforts to improve the chaotic transport system were initiated due to the rapid population growth the city had been experiencing since the early 1930s.
However, concrete plans began to materialize in the 1960s when Juan Parrochia was appointed as Chief Architect of the Intercommunal Plan of Santiago and began working on an urban master plan featuring a Metro network.
Consequently, the government issued an international tender for the development of an urban transport system. On 24 October 1968, the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva approved the draft submitted by the Franco-Chilean consortium BCEOM SOFRETU CADE, in which the construction of five lines with an extension of approximately by 1990 was proposed.
On 29 May 1969, works finally began for the construction of the first line, which would link the Civil District and the area of Barrancas (current-day Lo Prado).
On 15 September 1975, the first line of the metro was opened by Augusto Pinochet during the military dictatorship. Line 1, during its opening stage, was mostly underground from San Pablo to La Moneda, running below the Alameda. In 1977, the line was extended towards Providencia and by 1980, the line reached as far as Escuela Militar in Las Condes.
In March 1978, Line 2 was opened. Its initial section ran at ground level from Los Héroes to Franklin. By December, the second segment of the line was opened, running underground towards the south along the Gran Avenida up to Lo Ovalle.
Project changes
Despite the fast growth of the network, the severe economic crisis that affected the country in 1982 halted the original plans. Furthermore, studies showed that southeast Santiago was becoming more populated than the north end of the capital, area that was then covered by the planned extensions of the service.
In order to supply future demand, the layout for Line 2 was changed and the extension would start at Los Héroes and go around the Civic District, crossing Line 1 again at Baquedano to head south through Vicuña Mackenna. Meanwhile, Line 3 was projected through Independencia and Irarrázaval to supply the northern area that Line 2 was supposed to run.
However, these plans were affected once again when an earthquake struck the Chilean Central Valley on 3 March 1985. Most of the funds destined for the construction of the Line 2 extension and Line 3 were used to rebuild the city. The opening of two new stations towards the north in 1986 (Santa Ana) and 1987 (Puente Cal y Canto) were the only finalised works from these plans: Santa Ana and Mapocho stations on Line 2. The latter would change its name later, as remains of the old Calicanto Bridge –emblem of the city for over a century– were discovered during the excavation process. That same year, the Metrobús service was launched with services operating from Escuela Militar, Lo Ovalle and Las Rejas.
Institutionally, the management of Metro de Santiago was changed at the end of the decade. The former General Directorate of Metro, a branch of the Ministry of Public Works, became a state-funded public company, Metro S.A., with the provisions of Law 18,772 published on 28 January 1989.
Following the economic recovery after the second miracle, the metro's expansion plans resurged. Population growth in the southeastern area of the capital became unstoppable during the 1980s, and La Florida became the most populous commune in the country, thus the construction of a new line to supply that area was paramount. The first plans were drawn in 1989 and it was officially announced in 1991 by President Patricio Aylwin. This new line would start from Baquedano and head southwards to Américo Vespucio Avenue, crossing through Vicuña Mackenna.
Line 5 was opened on 5 April 1997 by President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle. This new line would have a length of initially running underground from Baquedano to Irarrázaval, emerging as a viaduct on Vicuña Mackenna and going underground before reaching its southeastern terminus, Bellavista de la Florida.
In March 2000, a new section of Line 5 crossing the historic centre of the capital was opened to the public. The new connection between Baquedano and Santa Ana through Plaza de Armas and Bellas Artes meant that all three at-the-time existing lines would be connected.
New lines 4 and 4A and line 2 extension With the election of Ricardo Lagos as President of Chile in 2000, one of his main objectives was an overhaul of the transport system serving the capital. To achieve this, a new extension for Line 5 was designed, heading westwards to Quinta Normal, following Catedral street, and an extension for Line 2 from both ends of the line to reach the northern and southern ends of the Américo Vespucio ring road.
Despite this, the biggest announcement was made in 2002 when Lagos disclosed the construction of a fourth line for the metro, serving the southeastern communes of Santiago to reach the heart of Puente Alto, which had taken over La Florida as the most populous commune of the country. With these new projects, the Metro network would double its extension by 2010, year in which the country would celebrate its bicentennial.
These new projects were designed to make Metro the key element of the new transport reform plan for the city, Transantiago. Along with the new extensions, exchange stations were designed to allow for a better interaction between the urban railways and other means of transport, mainly buses. The first exchange station would open in Quinta Normal after the Line 5 extension was finalised on 31 March 2004. However, the original plan to host a railway station would be discarded following the failure of the Melitrén construction.
On September 8, 2004, the Metro would make another breakthrough when the Mapocho river was crossed underground, with the opening of Patronato and Cerro Blanco stations on Line 2. On 22 December 2004, the southern extension of the same line opened its new stations, El Parrón and La Cisterna. A second stretch of Line 2 towards the north would open on 25 November 2005, and the last in the series of extensions opened on 22 December 2005, with a total cost of US$170 million and a 27-million passenger increase annually.
On November 30, 2005, the first underground leg of Line 4 from Tobalaba to Grecia, and the viaduct between Vicente Valdés and Plaza de Puente Alto opened to the public. The unfinished track from Grecia and Vicente Valdés was covered by a rail replacement bus service operated by Transantiago until March 2, 2006, when the remaining stations and track were finished. Line 4 at this time was the longest of the network, with an extension of and 22 stations serving Providencia, Las Condes, Ñuñoa, La Reina, Peñalolén, Macul, La Florida and Puente Alto. This new line also saw the introduction of new rolling stock, the AS-2002, manufactured by Alstom in Brazil, featuring more interior space than those running other lines. Finally, Line 4 would be complemented with the opening of a branch service on August 16, 2006, Line 4A, which connected Line 2 from La Cisterna with Line 4 at Vicuña Mackenna, running through the Américo Vespucio ring road.
Extensions to Las Condes and Maipú
On November 15, 2005, President Ricardo Lagos announced the extension of Line 1 to the east, from Escuela Militar to Los Dominicos station, in the commune of Las Condes. To achieve this, three new stations were built, adding 4 kilometers to the railway network, which were inaugurated on January 7, 2010, during the presidency of Michelle Bachelet.
Along with the extension to Las Condes, one of the most important projects of the service was announced: the extension of the metro to the west, connecting the communes of Maipú, Pudahuel, Lo Prado and Quinta Normal to the Metro Network. In this way, the Metro approached the western sector of the city for the first time, reaching Maipú, the most populated commune in the country after surpassing Puente Alto in 2008.
On October 31, 2009, the final layout of the extension of Line 5 was approved, starting from the Quinta Normal station along Avenida San Pablo underground, turning south to come to the surface and travel along Avenida Teniente Cruz and later Avenida Pajaritos before becoming underground again and reaching the terminal station, in the Plaza de Armas of Maipú. The first section to the Pudahuel station was delivered on January 12, 2010, while the remaining section Until Maipú was opened to the public on February 3, 2011.
Along with the construction of the new extensions, important works were carried out that allowed the Pajaritos station on Line 1 to be renovated to convert it into the terminal of a loop, allowing greater efficiency to the most loaded section of said line and the postponed San José de la Estrella station was inaugurated on Line 4. The Del Sol station was also built in the extension to Maipú, which serves as a transfer to intercity buses.
In March 2012, the Santiago Metro was chosen as the best metro system in America, a distinction received at the annual Metro Rail dinner held in London, United Kingdom.
Line 2 and 3 extensions
On May 26, 2016, Metro announced the extension of Lines 2 and 3, adding 8.9 kilometers and 7 new stations to the Metro network. Both extensions were expected to begin operations during the second half of 2021. The extension of Line 2 to the south would add 5.1 kilometers and 4 new stations connecting the current terminal station in La Cisterna with San Bernardo locality. The new terminal station would be located next to a hospital called Hospital El Pino in San Bernardo. Meanwhile, the extension of Line 3 to the west would add 3.8 kilometers and 3 new stations to the Metro network, connecting the then-future station Los Libertadores with Quilicura.