Jhael Isa, director of the Trust for the Development of the Mass Transportation System of the Dominican Republic (Fitram), is on the road promoting the public-private partnership to construct the third Greater Santo Domingo metro line, connecting East and West Santo Domingo.
The 32 km line would cross the city to Las Americas International Airport. The commute that takes two hours will be cut down to 20 minutes.
The third line would be partly privately financed. The tender is expected to happen in July 2023, meaning construction could start by February 2024. The metro line is expected to take three years to go into operation. The plan is for a mass transport system that integrates train, metro, cable car and buses capable of mobilizing one million people per day. Of the 32 km, 22 will be above ground. A large stretch will run along the bluff of the Avenida Ecológica.
The new metro line will connect the capital city (National District) from the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center on 27 February Avenue, all the way to Santo Domingo East, along Charles de Gaulle Avenue and then all the way to Las Americas International Airport.
In its first 10 km phase to Charles de Gaulle Avenue, the train will have a capacity to transport 200,000 users per day and 20,000 passengers per hour.
Isa of Fitram said 96 national and international companies have shown interest. He said the investment will come from foreign and local companies.
“We will operate the system, the government will buy the trains and the railway signaling, then the private sector invests up front and gives us the infrastructure. The service fee for the use of that infrastructure, which is how it is done in Madrid with the railway network, you have the operator of the trains and the owner of the infrastructure,” informed Jhael Isa, director of the Trust for the Development of the Mass Transportation System of the Dominican Republic (Fitram).
He explained for 30 years the state would pay for the use of the infrastructure. The private investors would recover their investment with the income from passenger fares, commercial units in the stations and real estate development in nearby areas.
Ambassador of France Eric Fournier says the government of France is backing the Dominican government in the efforts to build line 3 that will reach Las Americas International Airport. The Dominican Metro is mostly French technology.
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Diario Libre
El Caribe
27 June 2023