President Piñera inaugurated Line 3, which runs from Quilicura to La Reina.
The new line has 18 stations and the travel time from one end to the other is 30 minutes. This line will directly benefit residents in the municipalities of La Reina, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Independencia, Conchalí and Quilicura
In a ceremony held this morning at the Los Libertadores terminal in Quilicura, President Sebastián Piñera officially inaugurated Metro Line 3. He boarded the train in Parque Almagro and traveled for 8 stops, during which mayors, members of congress and local people also boarded.
“This metro line has been designed with people in mind, ensuring that the cars are comfortable, modern, safe, quiet, accessible by everyone, the elderly, the disabled and those with limited mobility,” said the President.
The line has a total of 18 stations running along 22 kilometers of track and will be able to accommodate 245,000 people on a daily basis. Line 3 will connect with other metro lines, thereby reducing travel times on all routes.
“These transportation systems need to be interconnected, because the more connected they are, the more useful they are to each and every passenger,” the President remarked during his speech. Those present for the ceremony included Transportation and Telecommunications Minister Gloria Hutt, Public Works Minister Juan Andrés Fontaine, the Governor of the Metropolitan Region, Karla Rubilar, the president of Metro, Louis de Grange, mayors, members of Congress and residents from neighborhoods that will benefit directly from the new line.
Regarding new lines currently under development, the President confirmed that “we are in the design, set-up, study and financing stage for Line 7, which will run from Renca to Vitacura, Line 8, which will run from Providencia to Puente Alto and Line 9 which will begin in Santiago and end in La Pintana, as well as the extension of Line 4, which will continue on to Bajos de Mena.”
This morning, thousands of people gathered at the entrances to the new stations, which officially opened to passengers at 9 a.m. amidst high expectations and contentment.
The President highlighted the work of all the teams involved in bringing this project to fruition. He called on everyone to take care of the new cars and stations and to be on the lookout for anyone who would try to damage or deface them.
Finally, the President underscored the importance of this great public work which will directly benefit more than 1.1 million people by saying, “true progress means improving the quality of life for everyone and doing so in a sustainable manner. The Metro is a great example of moving toward this goal.”