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wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Domingo_Metro

The Santo Domingo Metro is a rapid transit system in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic. The system was planned to relieve congestion in the city. The Santo Domingo Metro is part of a major "National Master Plan" to improve transportation and expand infrastructure.

In 2005, President Leonel Fernandez 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 and air pollution which severely affects productive time and health of the citizens of the city. The system complements other forms of public transportation such as OMSA (Metropolitan Office of Bus Services) buses and the government estimates that around 100 feeder buses will be in service.

The first line has sixteen stations; 6 elevated, 10 underground and a total track length of 14.5 km (9 miles), connects Villa Mella (north of the city) with La Feria (south of the city), which brings relief to the current public transport system of Santo Domingo.

The French consortium Alstom supplied a total of 19 Alstom Metropolis train sets (57 cars) from its factories in Belgium, France and Spain in a contract worth 92.5 million Euros. The first train was shipped from Barcelona in December 2007 and arrived on January 3rd 2008. The standard gauge units have air-conditioning, CCTV, passenger information, and can accommodate 617 passengers. The trains are limited with sets of 3 cars to begin their operations, but all stations were built to accommodate 6 cars each in anticipation of expected future ridership demands. 17 train sets are now in service, with 2 as spares. Daily ridership is about 60,000 passengers. The Santo Domingo Metro officially opened on January 30th 2009.

Future Extensions:

There is a subsequent construction phase to extend the rail system service within Santo Domingo by adding five more lines. 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 of Los Alcarrizos. The line will be underground in its 22 km run criss-crossing the city of Santo Domingo together will Line 1. As of September 2009, the Second line is said to be split into two different construction phases. The first phase is going to be from Los Alcarrizos to Maximo Gomez Avenue where it will intercept the first line. A second Phase will then complete this line from Maximo Gomez Avenue to San Luis located the East of the city. The early estimates of the cost of Line 2 are said to be around the $1.5 billion U.S. , or around $790 million for Phase 1 of line two. Construction began in October 2009.

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_de_Santo_Domingo