Spanish
Santo Domingo. – Engineer José Adolfo Herrera, technical assistant to the executive director of the Office for the Reordering of Transportation (OPRET), stated this Monday that the safety of the Santo Domingo Metro, especially the extension towards Los Alcarrizos, is completely guaranteed.
“The safety of the Metro is guaranteed, without any problem. I will be the first to ride it,” Herrera said.
During an interview on the program Matutino Su Mundo, Herrera reported that 10 engineers who participated in the construction of the first Metro line are currently working on the project, highlighting their experience in structures such as piles and columns.
He acknowledged that the project has faced delays for various reasons, including attacks that, he said, have been both political and professional in nature. Despite this, he assured that the work is progressing and that the Metro towards Los Alcarrizos is now a reality.
He indicated that, although different dates have been handled, the average duration of this type of project in the country is usually about four and a half years.“It's not the same as line one, which was mostly underground, as line two. The ground conditions are different. The tunnel towards Los Alcarrizos began to be excavated in July 2022 and ended in July 2024,” he said.
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The engineer detailed that the project is being executed in several phases; the first, corresponding to the civil works which includes stations and the marginal feeding track, would be ready by July 31st, if no inconveniences arise. The second phase, corresponding to the electromechanical part (rails and energization), must conclude in August.
Herrera explained that the signaling and automatic safety systems, which are provided by international companies such as the German Ciment and the French Thales, will be ready by February 2026. These technologies allow the control of trains from a monitoring center and require specific programming to incorporate the new stations.Cost of the work
“The work amounts to 36 billion 500 million pesos and includes five stations and six wagons, with a cost of 2.2 million euros each,” revealed the engineer.
Currently, the Metro transports 400 thousand people per day and nearly 120 million per year. He assured that the project has no outstanding debts with suppliers, and also highlighted that the civil part has been the most complex, in part due to the decision to democratize the process by hiring 36 construction companies, a policy that, according to him, follows the reference of engineer Diandino Peña.
Finally, Herrera mentioned that the fare price has remained fixed since the beginning of the Metro and that the State subsidizes each trip with 17 pesos. Work is being done on a plan to establish a single fare that allows transfers without additional cost.
