I rode the METRO and survived

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
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dr1.com
A few of us from the office rode the Metro yesterday afternoon.

It's easy to use, clean, modern and has plenty of staff.
At least 4-6 Metro cops at every station and usually someone at the entry point helping people pass the turnstiles to enter. Who knows how long this staffing level will last, but it sure is creating lots of new jobs!

Observations...

Riding over the poverty of Villa Mella in a billion dollar sardine can, is a interesting experience. To say it's a huge contrast, is an under statement.
Also, from this elevated position, the closer you get to the last stop in Villa Mella, the density of "tinaco's" increases.

Watching people use a "suape" to clean the platform makes you realize your still in the DR and that despite the massive investment, somethings just don't change :)

It was good to see it being used and everyone using it appeared to be happy and the passengers we spoke to, had nothing but good things to say about it.
Especially the time saving aspect and not having to be crammed in a "publico" with 6 other people.

The other pleasing aspect for me, is it's a union buster. As I have said in early posts on the Metro, the Government will use the Metro as a tool to break down the transport unions and that now appears to be the case.

The one big question I have, is how long is it going to last before falling apart, is it going to be like the OMSA buses? I'm a little bit anal when it comes to details and I noticed lots of little flaws, especially in the finishing work. Stainless work, tiling, fittings etc. I'm not sure it can handle that many people on a daily basis. I guess time will tell.

Moving on...

If your in Santo Domingo, it's worth a ride and it's a pleasant experience.
Plus you get to interact with "real" people and see a little more of the city once your on the above ground stretch.

How much does it cost?

You need to buy a plastic credit card sized card that can be refiiled.
The cost of the card is RD$30 and each journey costs RD$20.
If your a newbie, a round trip journey of the entire Metro will cost
you RD$70.

Video to follow sometime soon from Mr. Lu...
 

drloca

Silver
Oct 26, 2004
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Interesting to get a riders perspective, thanks for sharing your experience.

Looking forward to the video footage.
 

bienamor

Kansas redneck an proud of it
Apr 23, 2004
5,050
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Will be worth it

yes if it busts the unions, will be great. plan on doing this myself. and like robert still wondering about the maintenance. will have to see
 

Berzin

Banned
Nov 17, 2004
5,898
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Anything to do in Villa Mella?

Also, let's say I ride up and want to turn back without getting off at the last stop.

Would I have to get off and pay another fare, or can I just stay on the same train I rode up on?
 

Robert

Stay Frosty!
Jan 2, 1999
20,574
341
83
dr1.com
Anything to do in Villa Mella?

Also, let's say I ride up and want to turn back without getting off at the last stop.

Would I have to get off and pay another fare, or can I just stay on the same train I rode up on?

It's RD$20 each way. Each time you leave a station and either enter the one on the opposite side of the road or a new one, it will cost you another RD$20. It's fair and cheap.

You can load the card up with as much as you want, so you don't need to go to the ticket office each time you enter a station.
 

MikeFisher

The Fisherman/Weather Mod
Feb 28, 2006
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www.mikefisher.fun
thanks for the first impression report Robert.
the mai8ntenance, yeap, time will show.
rates are cheap, that's what the people need and also needed to bash the sindicates, really appreciated.
but the cheap rates have also their danger, b/c they do not pay the real cost of a ride, so in my eyes there is a huuuge need of subsidies, nobody shows numbers on that, i hope the gubmin can efford to pay them to keep that baby alive and add the needed additional lines so it woill not come out as the reason for the country's banruptcy one day, because the maintenance/staff/electricity aso of a metro is anything but cheap. there hs to be somebody who pays those bills.
Mike
 

drloca

Silver
Oct 26, 2004
2,097
216
63
Anything to do in Villa Mella?

Also, let's say I ride up and want to turn back without getting off at the last stop.

Would I have to get off and pay another fare, or can I just stay on the same train I rode up on?

Villa Mella is famous for "chicharones" as far as I know...if that turns your crank!:ermm:
 

aegap

Silver
Mar 19, 2005
2,505
10
0
Anything to do in Villa Mella?

Also, let's say I ride up and want to turn back without getting off at the last stop.

As some stops you have to get out of the station before you catch the metro going in the opposite direction. From what I've heard, the card gives you ten minutes to make the change from turnstile to turnstile at no additional cost.
 

Golfer

New member
Apr 7, 2002
255
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Probably been posted already

However, is there a website showing the routes and stops, and the proposed routes and stops? It's too new for Google Earth.
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,369
3,150
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However, is there a website showing the routes and stops, and the proposed routes and stops? It's too new for Google Earth.



circular.jpg




METRO DE SANTO DOMINGO - THREAD OFICIAL (PARTE XXIV) ‎


-NALs
 
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dms3611

Bronze
Jan 14, 2002
664
14
0
Robert, just trying to understand.....

......why you believe this metro will break up the transport union? Those guys have all sorts "up their sleeves". When things don't go their way...look out....they just sit and wait........

They spent enough money for everyone to have lots of confidence in this project.....however, I have NO faith in it success. However, I will feel bad when it fails due to the waste of resources.
 
Nov 25, 2008
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enjoy it while it last, after this government they will pull the trains with oxes, like every change of power; everything collapses
 

arturo

Bronze
Mar 14, 2002
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Down with the "due?os del pa?s!" but don't fool yourselves about maintenance

yes if it busts the unions, will be great. plan on doing this myself. and like robert still wondering about the maintenance. will have to see

I prefer to be optimistic but ask yourselves honestly - - what public facility have you ever seen reasonably maintained? I think there is a real danger that the metro will be a victim of its own success. It will be hard to maintain an acceptable level of comfort and safety with the quickly growing ridership. Even the Presidential Palace - one of the better maintained public builldings - is crumbling just below the surface and beyond restricted access areas of the top people. It's a shame really. I also wouldn't put it past the disenfranchised conchos to make mischief the first chance they get when the metro security staffing predictably decreases.

I hope it doesn't happen because the metro provides benefits all around - - including for people who never use it. Even before it was in operation, the metro had begun to greatly reduce congestion on the Maximo Gomez corridor. It was a daily disaster there during drive time.

The conchos are in denial. Hubieres is in a desparate struggle for relavence. The tide has turned. Our time is now!
 

NotLurking

Bronze
Jul 21, 2003
2,447
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Sto Dgo Este
I rode the Metro yesterday with my wife and kids. The area around the Mama Tingo station of the Metro in Villa Mella, is still under some construction. Traffic was especially heavy yesterday around 5:05pm. The occasional rains didn't help matters much but traffic did flow albeit slower than I hoped for. All told the experience around the area wasn't all that bad. I found a parking space close to the Metro entrance with the help of none other than an AMET. I think Sunday is my lucky day.

The service at the ticket counter was good although a bit slower than necessary. Some of the patrons on line didn't understand that a Metro card was needed to board the train and they argued against the purchase of the Metro card in favor of just paying their fare and dispensing with the card altogether. Of course, the clerk wasn't having any of it. The now upset new Metro rider, had no choice but to comply with the regulation and pay RD$30 for the Metro card plus his fare. I suppose the big fuss was because of the RD$30 surcharge for the Metro card but there is no way around that because every Metro rider needs a card to enter and EXIT the system.

To my surprise, the staff was very professional. I entered the Metro at the Mama Tingo station, the station was well finished, with perhaps one exception: the escalators next to the ticket both had a section finished with 1/4 inch plywood instead of the glass insert that is supposed to be there. Could this have been left this way or did the glass insert get somehow broken? I can't say either way despite my best effort at getting to the bottom of this. The lady stationed at the turnstile to help people along with positioning the Metro cards on the card readers, although sweet and very helpful, had no clue why the escalator had that plywood insert.

We didn't board the first train that pulled up to the station as I was more interested in seeing how the system operated in general and how the people using it behaved. I was pleasantly surprised at how well people responded to the Metro in general. Everyone I spoke with had good things to say about the Metro. Most people I spoke to were just taking the train ride to give the new Metro a try.

I was very impressed with the system as a whole. The trains are modern equipped with cutting edge technology. We boarded the first car of the next three car train to pull up to the station. The ride was much more quiet than I expected. I could actually talk to my wife and fellow riders without having to yell. All through the ride the only thing in the back of my mind was the clunking NYC 4 train or the banging D train I use to ride to work every day.
...what a contrast to that experience.

The conductor was a bit ruff when braking to bring the train to a total stop but did handle all other aspects of his job quite well. He announced every stop and operated the trains with care. I constantly took a peek through the tinted glass that divided the conductor's cabin from the passengers, at the LCD screen that displayed a computerized representation of an analogue speedometer; the train cruising speed never exceeded ~53kph. The trip from Mama Tingo to Centro De los Heroes took about 26 minute. We did not have to get out at Centro De los Heroes all we had to was walk across the platform to catch the same train for our return trip to Mama Tingo. The trip back was uneventful and we enjoyed the same atmosphere and good conversation with other riders until we reached our destination: Mama Tingo in Villa Mella.

The round trip ride of the SD Metro was very nice. My wife and I actually enjoyed it. My kids thought the whole affair was simply delightful. In the words of my 5 year old when the train pull up to the station and we left our seats, "Dad this is soooo cool!"

NotLurking
 

donmobay

Say what ! ???
Dec 10, 2005
171
2
0
spares or running on empty

this is a country that does not believe in spending money$ just to have the spare parts... spend money it is not necessary!!! it is not broken... a country runs on spare parts... the philo here is buy new. replace it. who doesnt want a new jeepeta.

so when the trains start breaking and break they will it will be hell for the people the country etc. lines for buses that are not serving those lines.. now as new it is wonderful. i will go and marvel. experience and shoot pics...
used to work with a guy who now works for the n.y.c. subway. spares all over, tools machine shops, supplies raw materials trained machinists. is there one of those in this country?? might have something like a machinist... but i doubt it. i havent seen any schools advertising . and a trained mechanic gets alot in the real world...
 

NALs

Economist by Profession
Jan 20, 2003
13,369
3,150
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To my surprise, the staff was very professional. I entered the Metro at the Mama Tingo station, the station was well finished, with perhaps one exception: the escalators next to the ticket both had a section finished with 1/4 inch plywood instead of the glass insert that is supposed to be there. Could this have been left this way or did the glass insert get somehow broken? I can't say either way despite my best effort at getting to the bottom of this. The lady stationed at the turnstile to help people along with positioning the Metro cards on the card readers, although sweet and very helpful, had no clue why the escalator had that plywood insert.

NotLurking
During the tryouts in December, a group of teenagers were leaning into the glass and the thing gave way. Many had lacerations on their arms and legs and were treated for their injuries. It will be replaced once the new panel arrives.

BTW, for the naysayers, the SD Metro is not the only Metro system in a country "with no maintenance culture". In fact, every Metro in Latin America (or the Third World in general) is practically subjected to a similar "culture" when it comes to maintenance, and yet, they still run.

The SD Metro is the most modern in the entire world right now. Its perhaps has the longest lifespan in its usage of any Metro system ever built on earth. If other Metros in Caracas, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Santiago (Chile), etc. manage to function in places with "little to no maintenance culture", so too will the Dominican Metro. Those other Metros were built with construction techniques/materials that are perhaps inferior and with shorter lifespan to the one's used in the construction of the SD Metro. Plus, the Dominican Metro was built and is currently being operated under the supervision of the Madrid Metro authorities; which up until the SD Metro was inaugurated, the Madrid Metro was considered the most modern in the world.

All this whining.

The thing is built already so GET OVER IT!

Good gracious!:cheeky:

-NALs
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
17,850
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::sigh:: another thread rendered unreadable by oversized pics... but that's just me whining.
 

tflea

Bronze
Jun 11, 2006
1,839
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Traffic

OK, excellent, the Metro is running, but what I wanna know, is if the traffic along the way has subsided on the roads with the guaguas, carritos, motos, etc. Is it less congested, or tenemos la misma vaina? Estar? en la capital ma?ana.