This Sunday, President Luis Abinader will lead a tour by the Santiago monorail. It was revealed that the Sunday route will be less than a kilometer long and will start in San Lorenzo Park, passing through Monterrico and ending behind the Ensanche Espaillat sector.
The speed of the test will be 15 kilometers per hour and, when it starts working, it will increase to 80 kilometers per hour, according to the data offered by the technicians.
Thus, the first president will “keep an eye” on the operation of this work (the first technical tests) were held in May) which is expected to open in December of this year or in the first quarter of 2025.
Read this article to find out what you need to know about this project and its medium- and long-term expansion plan, which includes a much-discussed underground station project at the Monument to the Heroes.
What you need to know about the Santiago Monorail
The Santiago Monorail is a railway transport system with a 12.8-kilometer route, starting in the Cien Fuego sector and ending in Nibaje. It will have 15 passenger stations, of which 9 will be built in the first stage, from Cienfuegos to the Centro Comercial Las Carreras building, where the central station will be located.
The second stage will have 6 stations, running from the central terminal to the Nibaje sector.
The monorail stations will be as follows:
First stage:
- Station 1: Cienfuegos
- Station 2: San Lorenzo
- Station 3: Espaillat
- Station 4: The Plaza
- Station 5: Ring Road
- Station 6: Cuesta Colorada
- Station 7: The Eagles
- Station 8: New Town
- Station 9: Central
The Central Station is intermodal for monorail-cable car-bus-electric bicycles. In addition, the system will have a Yard-Workshop and Depot of approximately 57 thousand square meters, for storage, maintenance and cleaning of the trains. The Yard-Workshop and Depot will be located between the Espaillat station and the La Plazona station.
Second stage:
- Station 10: The Races
- Station 11: Monument of the Heroes
- Station 12: Mother and Teacher
- Station 13: Olympic Village
- Station 14: Beijing
The completed system is estimated to move around 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction, with a journey time of approximately 30 to 35 minutes across the 14 stations.
Most stations are central platform type and use advanced signalling technology (CBTC GOA4).
The underground station
From the above mentioned route, perhaps the most talked about –and debated– is the underground station project at Station 11 of the Monorail, specifically the one that includes the Monument to the Heroes. It is known that it will be strategically located in the southern gardens of the Gran Teatro Del Cibao.
One of the most discussed elements in the debate is the effects that the construction may have on the monument. In this sense, the technical team of the Integrated Transport System (SIT) assures that this work in the monumental area will not touch the statue of Patron Saint Santiago. Nor will it obstruct the view to the monument.
This station is expected to be the most touristic of all the stations. It was revealed that a museum, viewing points, a boulevard, among other amenities are planned for it, which plan to turn it into a must-see stop.
The start of the works in the monumental area is about to begin, so it is expected that heavy equipment will soon be excavating in the area. Consequently, the use of the monumental area would be limited until the end of 2025, which is when the inauguration of the second stage of the Monorail is expected.
