Metro Valparaíso
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The Metro Valparaíso , also called Merval ( acronym of the Spanish name Metro Regional de Valparaíso ), is a transport system in the Chilean city of Valparaíso . It unites a large part of the Gran Valparaíso metropolitan area and is administered by Metro Regional de Valparaíso , a subsidiary of the state-owned railway company EFE .
The metro uses the railway line from the port of Valparaíso to Santiago in the urban area of the cities of Valparaíso , Viña del Mar , Quilpué , Villa Alemana and Limache . For the operation of the Valparaíso Metro, the line was expanded to two tracks and spanned with a new contact line system. The rest of the route between Santiago and Limache is single-track and no longer electrified. From the Puerto station, it first runs along the Pacific and then runs between the Recreo and El Salto stops in a tunnel through Viña del Mar. This tunnel contains the Mirmar, Viña del Mar, Hospital and Chorillos stops. All stops with the exception of the Puerto terminus have been provided with side platforms. At the stops in Barón, Bellavista and Francia, the platform used in the direction of Puerto can only be reached via passenger crossings. Due to the large number of travelers at peak times, the Spanish solution with island and outside platforms was set up in Puerto train station .
The opening took place on November 23, 2005.
The trains run every twelve minutes. During the peak times Monday to Friday, traffic between Valparaíso and Villa Alemana is reduced to a six-minute cycle. The short daily operating time is unusual for a metropolitan rapid transit system:
- Monday to Friday:
- first move from Limache 6.15; from Puerto 6.30
- last train from Limache 22.15; from Puerto 22.30
- Saturday
- first train from Limache 7.30; from Puerto 8.30
- last train from Limache 22.06; from Puerto 22.24
- Sundays and holidays
- first train from Limache 8.00; from Puerto 8.55
- last train from Limache 22.06; from Puerto 22.12
At Limache train station there are bus connections with direct connections to and from Quillota, Limache Viejo, La Caldera and Olmué.
27 double units of the X'Trapolis 100 type from Alstom , which are approved for 120 km / h, are used. They each consist of an externally identical motor car (M) and control car (R). Since 2014, they have been supplemented by six six-axle articulated railcars of the successor type X'Trapolis Modular (XT-30 to 35). In terms of vehicle construction, these were derived from the Renfe “Civia” multiple units . Monday to Friday, around half of the rounds run as double units. The depot for the railcars was set up in Limache station. The other entertainment points are also located there.
Limache station, unit 10. The car with the suffix "M" is the railcar.
X'Trapolis 100, passenger compartment with intercar transition
Hp Portales, X'Trapolis Modular
There are (as of September 2015) somewhat reduced single tickets in medium and low load times. Only rechargeable chip cards are used for fare billing. Personal as well as day and annual tickets are offered. Since 2013, the Sistema MetroBici has made it possible for the first time in a subway in Chile to take up to four bicycles per metro train on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. Interested parties have to get instructions from the ServiceCenter, sign a contract and pay 5000 CLP (€ 6.50) for an ID.
There are proposals and initiatives for extending operations to Quillota , La Cruz and La Calera using the existing route towards Santiago. The main obstacle to implementation is the dismantled contact line.
