Founded in 1542, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. Located within the country’s central valley, its cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the Mapocho River. Situated mere hours away from both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, visitors to Santiago are also treated to views of the iconic Andes Mountains from most places across the city.
In recent decades Santiago’s steady economic growth has helped transform it into something of a modern metropolis, home to extensive suburban development schemes and a rising skyline that includes the tallest building in Latin America, the Gran Torre Santiago. The city has also developed a modern transportation infrastructure which includes the Metro de Santiago, South America’s most extensive subway system.
“It was on 24 October, 1968,” explains Roberto Bianchi, CEO of Metro de Santiago, “that the then President of the Republic, Frei Montalva, signed the decree that resulted in the birth of the Santiago Metro. Just over seven months later, on 29 May, 1969, work commenced on the first stretch of Line 1, between the San Pablo and La Moneda stations. The first journey carrying passengers would take place on 15 September, 1975.”
Today the network boasts 108 stations, which cover five lines, four maintenance garages and a corporate office, from which its control centre monitors the whole operation. As of December 2011, the company employed more than 3,200 people in various positions throughout the operation.
“Today,” Bianchi continues, “we are implementing a plan for infrastructure improvements. This involves the purchase of new trains, equipment for a new, advanced driving system on Line 1, the gradual incorporation of air conditioning in trains on lines 1,2 and 5, the modernisation of older trains, platform extensions and the building of lifts within the oldest stations. This plan involves an investment of $400 million and will improve the service we provide to more than 2.3 million passengers who use the Metro on a daily basis and position us as the structural axis of the Santiago transport system.”
The work being undertaken represents the biggest expansion challenge in the history of the Metro with the simultaneous construction of Lines 3 and 6. “These two routes alone,” Bianchi states, “make up 37 kilometres of track and 28 stations, working together to ease congestion in the city and improve the quality of life for the people of Santiago.”
According to Bianchi, once both routes are in operation, they will half the travel time for residents living in the northwest and southwest of the city, travelling to the centre. This way, the arrival of the Metro could even bring new job opportunities to parts of the city which were previously considered too far away and difficult to access.
“Furthermore” Bianchi says,” our new passengers will be able to access the many services available in the Metro stations. They may, for example, run errands or shop without deviating from the route home, or enjoy the varied musical and artistic events organised by the Corporación Cultural MetroArte (MetroArt Cultural Corporation). We are talking about a Metro which thinks of the people, which incorporates the best underground trains in the world and the most advanced technology.”
Once complete, Lines 3 and 6 will feature some of the most important and advanced innovations on the whole network, from modern platform doors and tracks that eliminate the risk of electrocution, to trains with more security cameras and more efficient driving. Line 6 is expected to commence operation in 2016, with Line 3 to follow in 2018. Total investment has been calculated as being approximately $2.75 million.
The on-going work taking place across the network reaffirms the fact that one of Metro de Santiago’s core initiatives is to reinforce its commitment to its users. One such action it is taking is the implementation of a service strategy called Pasión por el cliente” (Passion for the customer).
“We are already developing a series of measures to keep our passengers informed before and during journeys,” Bianchi enthuses. “Through the use of social networks like Twitter we have implemented an information system, which, as well as delivering current reports regarding the state of operation, allows us to respond to each and every one of the enquiries we receive from our customers. In the near future we will also implement an information system via text message for cell phones and a special app for smartphones.
In addition to this, in April last year the company created a free phone number (1411), which allows its passengers to make a complaint in the event that they are presented with a situation that involves some kind of risk to health. “We want to continue being the safest public place in Santiago, with 0.37 crimes reported for every million passengers,” Bianchi says.
On top of the improvements described above, the Metro is also working to establish is Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) conduction system. This system will begin operating during 2013 and its introduction will coincide with the arrival of 14 new trains.
While the Metro is already regarded as an efficient, non-polluting mode of transportation, with very low greenhouse gas emissions, it remains aware of the responsibility it has to implement new initiatives that will lower its carbon footprint further still. In 2011 the Metro achieved a saving of roughly 63 Gigawatt hours per year, equivalent to the average annual consumption of 35,900 households. During the early months of 2012, Metro reduced its consumption reaching a rate of 2.93 kilowatt-hours used per month, in comparison with 2.98 in the previous period.
“Together with the growth of the Metro network,” Bianchi continues, “the company promotes non-tariff businesses, the lease of real estate space and the sale of advertising space, aspects which have contributed to the Metro being one of the few self-financed subways in the world. For the local economy meanwhile, the Metro represents not only the generation of jobs, and payment of wages and taxes, but an important support for local companies through their incorporation into our supply chain. These are all things that we hope to continue to contribute towards as we expand the network further in the months and years to come.”
Written by Will Daynes, research by Louisa Adcock
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