The chairman of the board of directors of the Santiago Metro, louis degrange, said goodbye to the company after four years of management. “We share historic moments,” De Grange wrote on Twitter. The industrial civil engineer came to the presidency of Metro in 2018.
“After four years, it’s time to say goodbye. We shared historic moments, and that confirmed to an entire country the commitment, courage and social sense that the teams that make up this wonderful state company have always shown,” said De Grange on his Twitter account.
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Darling @metrodesantiago. After 4 years it was time to say goodbye. We share historical moments, and that confirmed to an entire country the commitment, courage and social sense that the teams that make up this wonderful state company have always shown. pic.twitter.com/ZeTtudaxp9
—Louis de Grange (@louisdegrange) April 25, 2022
On April 23, 2018, Metro’s board of directors elected De Grange as president of the company, replacing Rodrigo Azocar.
De Grange – also a master’s in transport economics and a doctor in transportation systems planning – was the former president’s favorite card Sebastian Pinera to lead the company. In fact, the civil engineer was coordinator of the infrastructure team for development in the campaign of the former head of state.
Among the events that marked his management, is the attempted attack against him, through a bomb sent by the eco-terrorist group Individualists Tending to the Wild, in May 2019. The attack was foiled by Carabineros.
Later, in October of the same year, he faced the massive evasions in the Metro and then the social explosion. In this context, there was severe damage to the infrastructure of this means of transport.
In that period, there were seven totally burned stations, another seven partially burned, and 77 stations with different damages. The reconstruction cost more than US$250 million.
Already in 2020, the company faced the arrival of the pandemic, which resulted in a reduction in passengers.
Under the management of De Grange, the construction of Line 7 of the Metro also began. The project seeks to unite the communes of Renca, Cerro Navia, Quinta Normal, Santiago, Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura. According to projections, it will benefit about 1.35 million inhabitants.
