- Thread starter bigbird
- Start date
Metro Line 2 - expansion
Just a few points...I was talking to a guy who is an architect working on the Metro. He said that the line to Zona Colonial had been permanently shelved. And I've heard that the beltway / ringroad to Boca Chica is definitely going ahead, this from people in government.
I agree with Bigbird, the metro is uncomfortable, even off-peak it is very busy. They clearly don't have enough trains. In London the trains run every 80 seconds most of the day now, while in Santo Domingo they run every 10 minutes. Having spent all the money on the tracks in Santo Domingo it seems a real shame they can't spend a little more and put on more trains. I'm sure they could also have longer trains, the platforms are much longer than the trains.
Nobody has mentioned the cable car, that's also definitely going ahead isn't it?
I agree with Bigbird, the metro is uncomfortable, even off-peak it is very busy. They clearly don't have enough trains. In London the trains run every 80 seconds most of the day now, while in Santo Domingo they run every 10 minutes. Having spent all the money on the tracks in Santo Domingo it seems a real shame they can't spend a little more and put on more trains. I'm sure they could also have longer trains, the platforms are much longer than the trains.
Nobody has mentioned the cable car, that's also definitely going ahead isn't it?
The problems, TP , are two fold with the all important ring road ...where it will meet with las Americas and who will build it .But it a priority because all these multi ton trucks are destroying the streets of the capital .. As far as the cable car is concerned you can see the progress very easily ..but where does the money come from ?
I think the intersection is already provided for in the works that they have done to Las Americas between the airport and Boca Chica, there seems to be a big gap which would contain the road on the left as you are driving out of town. Given all the recent work done on this stretch, I can only assume they thought about providing the enabling works for the new road.
Agree with both points. The frequency at which the trains run would be dependent on how fast the trains can get in the last/first station and out. At Eduardo Brito a train coming in on the eastbound track has to unload the passengers and reload. Leave the station on the eastbound track heading west and then switch over to the westbound track once out of the station. This is the case at all the first/last stations.
Yes, longer trains would also be a big help.
I really don't think anyone anticipated the large number of riders the Metro would have.
The reason that I mentioned London was that was where I lived until I left in 2000, arriving in the DR in 2001. When I first arrived here I was amazed at the lack of cars on the road and the lack of traffic jams, coming from a place where it took me 2.5 hours to get to work (from West London to East London) either driving or using public transport - train and tube. As Santo Domingo develops I can see it becoming more like London was when I left, bringing with it the advantages of a first world city but also the disadvantages that brings too. It seems to me the Metro is a victim of its own success, and yes more trains would obviously help.
Not true that I don't care less, as I do come to Santo Domingo often, and have many family and friends there as well. Every part of the country has its advantages and disadvantages, including where I live.
Matilda
Tropical Paul I know we are rather off the subject but I have seen that gap on the much improved new rad between the airport overpass and boca Chica but it would be much easier to have the road going under the overpass direct from the port to the ring road and avoiding all traffic on las Americas and I hope that will be the way ..but who knows .
On an another matter , the BTR system in Bangkok is terribly overcrowded now and although every station has space for two more coaches/bogeys, the trains are always the same short length .I wonder if there is another sofar unmentioned consideration.
On an another matter , the BTR system in Bangkok is terribly overcrowded now and although every station has space for two more coaches/bogeys, the trains are always the same short length .I wonder if there is another sofar unmentioned consideration.
In all honesty I can not say that I have. I do not remember the world body questioning the legitimacy of either election for President Medina though, and there was surely more than enough international monitors present in RD at the time for these elections. President Fernandez' big push was the transportation agenda, while President Medina's seems to be education and agriculture.
Yes I agree it would make far more sense for that road to be the continuation of the road from the port, but we can pretty much guess it won't be (witness the end of the Santiago beltway where you have to take a tiny exit to get back onto the Autopista Duarte).
Back to the theme about trains. Sadly I am quite into trains, I haven't quite got onto trainspotting yet but very nearly. The thing is that train sets are designed to be a certain length. You can't just stick another carriage on the end like you could with a kid's trainset, in real life they come from the manufacturer being designed to be x coaches long. To add another coach means adding extra power, redoing the electrics and then you have to think about the extra weight of the lengthened train going over bridges and whether these need reinforcing. In London they recently lengthened all Jubilee line trains to 7 coaches and it took years to do this. (Apologies for the continued references to London but it is a city where most people use public transport, unlike most US cities).
In Santo Domingo clearly someone has thought that in the future there will be longer trains as the platforms generally seem to be much longer than the trains, so we can live in hope.
One other point to throw in, in London they are now saying that it costs way too much to build new railways and roads and the solution is cycling. Interestingly in Santo Domingo cycling seems to be all the rage and we have new cycle lanes in Churchill and on the Malecon which seem to get some good usage.