- Fare and where to buy tickets
- Metro lines
- Working hours
- History
- Peculiarities
If you go to the Dominican capital and dream of seeing all the sights of this city, then surely it will be interesting for you to visit the Santo Domingo metro - this is the first and so far the only metro in the country.
However, if you do not consider the first Dominican metro a tourist attraction, preferring to explore historical monuments and art galleries, you will certainly visit the city subway more than once. The fact is that the metro is one of the most convenient types of public transport in the Dominican capital. True, so far it does not cover all areas of the city, but the development of this transport system is proceeding at a very rapid pace. For a capital city whose population is growing rapidly, this is an absolute must; great hopes are pinned on the metro. It should significantly improve the transport situation in the city; already now, thanks to him, some particularly problematic road sections have been relieved, and the number of traffic jams has decreased.
The rules for using the metro in the Dominican capital are very simple: there is no confusing tariff system, no complicated routes … In the only Dominican metro, everything is simple and functional.
Fare and where to buy tickets
In the metro of the Dominican capital, just like in the metro of any major city in the world, travel documents can be purchased at the station entrances. You will need to choose between two tickets - a rechargeable plastic one and a disposable paper one.
A one-time travel document costs approximately fifteen Dominican pesos. A refillable pass costs much more - about sixty pesos. In addition, you should immediately put one hundred pesos on it (at least). This pass can be used for multiple people (if traveling with family or friends). In this case, you just need to attach it to the reader as many times as a person passes this ticket in the subway. When applying a travel card, be careful not to lose your account, otherwise the ticket will be charged more money than your company needs to travel.
The metro of the Dominican capital is considered one of the most budgetary metros on the planet (we are talking about the cost of tickets).
Metro lines
The transport system includes two branches and thirty-four stations. The length of the network is approximately twenty-eight and a half kilometers.
The first line consists of sixteen stations, ten of which are underground, and the rest are located on the flyover. All of these stations are named after famous historical figures of the country. The branch leads from north to south. Its central and southern parts are completely underground. The length of the line is approximately fourteen and a half kilometers. In the diagrams, it is indicated in blue.
The second line is only slightly inferior to the first in length, and slightly surpasses it in the number of stations: there are eighteen stations on this line. It leads from the western districts of the city towards the east towards the airport. This line is most often used by tourists, as it connects the airport with those areas where the main city attractions are located. Its color on the metro map is red. In the city center, it intersects with the first branch.
It should be noted that the colors of the branches (red and blue) were not chosen by chance. These are the colors of the country's flag.
Passengers are served by several dozen trains, each of which consists of three cars. At the same time, the stations were built for six-car trains: an increase in passenger traffic is expected in the future, which means that three-car trains will need to be replaced with more spacious ones.
About two hundred thousand passengers use the services of the transport system every day.
Working hours
The Santo Domingo Metro begins work at six o'clock in the morning. Trains run until eleven o'clock in the morning. The interval of movement is approximately five minutes. In this respect, the metro of the Dominican capital compares favorably with many similar transport systems located in large cities: subways with such a short interval of movement are a rarity. Of course, during rush hours, many metro trains run with the same or even shorter interval of movement, but then it usually increases. And in the metro of the Dominican capital, it is unchanged.
History
By the beginning of the 21st century in the Dominican capital, there was a need to build a new transport system that would solve several problems at once; here are the main ones:
- growing congestion of city roads;
- air pollution from vehicles;
- inefficiency of the existing public transport system.
The population of the Dominican capital grew rapidly (this trend continues today). It would not be an exaggeration to say that this city needed the metro almost like air. The country's leadership announced the construction of a new transport system as one of the priority tasks for the near future, along with improving the quality of education and medicine.
The construction of the metro in the Dominican capital began in 2005 and lasted for about three years. The official opening took place in early 2009, but before that the metro had already been functioning for some time, carrying passengers free of charge. Shortly before the official opening, it was temporarily closed. After the metro was officially put into operation, free transportation of passengers stopped.
A few months later, construction began on the second line. It opened in 2013 (although it was originally scheduled to open in the second half of 2012). Its length was just over ten kilometers, there were fourteen stations on it. A year later, work began on its extension, which ended in 2018. A section of about three and a half kilometers in length was completed, and four more stations appeared on the line.
The construction of the third branch is planned. Also in the more distant plans - the fourth and fifth lines. The system should cover all areas of the Dominican capital.
It cannot yet be argued that the metro has completely solved the city's transport problem. Today, only a relatively small part of the townspeople use the metro, while the rest prefer cars, buses and minibuses. After all the planned lines are completed and put into operation, the passenger traffic will increase dramatically, and the transport situation will improve dramatically.
Peculiarities
One of the features of the metro in the Dominican capital, which distinguishes it from many other metros in the world, is as follows: at some stations of this transport system it is impossible to change for free on the return train. That is, in order to go in the opposite direction, you need to get off the metro, then pay the fare again and re-enter, but now on the other side of the platform. Only after you have completed all these actions, you can go in the direction you need.
Law enforcement officers are constantly on the platforms and at the entrances to the station (for the safety of passengers).
Official website: www.opret.gob.do
Metro Santo Domingo
