New cars and more opening hours now ensure those riding the Santo Domingo metro can get to their stops much faster and with less crowding. President Luis Abinader made the announcement when on Sunday, 10 August 2025 he attended the official announcement of the start of operation of six-car trains and the inauguration of a pedestrian interconnection corridor for the Santo Domingo Metro.
The new additions are part of a project to expand the capacity of Line 1. Four six-car trains are now in service, increasing the metro’s capacity to 17,000 users per hour, with a projection to reach 22,000 by December. This expansion aims to resolve the saturation of trains and stations during peak hours, reducing wait times and improving the daily experience for the more than 380,000 people who use the metro each day.
The Santo Domingo Metro is the most used mode of transportation for its price and convenience.
The project also involved extending the platforms of five elevated stations on Line 1, doubling their length from 60 to 120 meters to accommodate the longer trains. Additionally, a new pedestrian corridor was opened at the Juan Pablo Duarte station (at the crossroad of Maximo Gomez and John F. Kennedy), doubling pedestrian capacity with three interconnected tunnels designed to improve the flow of passengers between Line 1 that goes north and south and Line 2 that connects the city east and west.
President Abinader stated that the project is “a bet on the present and future” and includes the acquisition of 24 new trains, a revamp of the entire electrical system, and updates to the signaling and telecommunications systems. The total investment for the project is approximately US$260 million, with funding from the Dominican government and the French Development Agency (AFD).
The Metro Santo Domingo Office recently added another hour to the train schedule that now starts at 5:30am. The new schedule had already shortened many queues.
Listin Diario, nevertheless, reports, the Santo Domingo Metro Office has more work cut out for it and investments are needed to keep up with the needed maintenance for the older No. 1 line, the first to enter into operation in 2009.
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Presidency
Noticias SIN
Listin Diario
11 August 2025