On 2 November Chile’s President, Michelle Bachelet, inaugurated Line 6 of Metro de Santiago, the first automated metro line in the Chilean capital’s network.

The driverless line is 15km long and has 10 underground stations, seven of which are new. It connects with Line 1 at Los Leones, Line 2 at Franklin and Line 5 at Ñuble. There will also be an interchange with the future Line 3 (also automated) at Ñuñoa.

With the opening of Line 6, travel time from the area of Los Leones to Cerrillos has been cut down from 47 to 19 minutes; that is 60 percent.

The new line’s characteristics include platform screen doors, air conditioning, information screens, more energy-efficient trains, LED lighting, catenary power supply, emergency evacuation doors in the first and last cars and 52 security cameras in each train.

As for stations, key specificities include better accessibility with elevators at all levels and the absence of tickets offices, with travellers required to charge or buy their cards (named ‘Bip!’) at machines inside the stations.

Santiago Line 6 is the second automated metro line in Latin America. The first, São Paulo Line 4, was inaugurated in 2010.

Sources:

Chilean President’s official news

Chilean government official news

Key data on the line:

See the line’s data page