Dominican Rep set to launch tender to build Santo Domingo metropolitan train

The Dominican Republic plans to launch a tender soon to build the first stage of the Greater Santo Domingo metropolitan train as part of the construction of a national rail network. 

On Wednesday, President Luis Abinader spoke at the Business Future of the Americas conference hosted by Amcham in the country’s capital, where he said that the tender for the PPP contract will be launched in July. 

In its first stage, the Greater Santo Domingo train will run from Juan Pablo Duarte station, at the intersection of John F. Kennedy and Máximo Gómez avenues, to the Charles de Gaulle station. In a later stage, the line will reach Las Américas international airport.

The start of construction is expected for 1Q24. 

“We are creating a new geography of opportunities for all Dominicans, with tourism projects like Pedernales and Miches, in the center of the island, to turn Santiago into a modern metropolis and connect them in half an hour with the Bergantín project in Puerto Plata, and the logistics, industrial and energy hub of Manzanillo,” said Abinader during the conference, according to news outlet El Universal Digital. 

Abinader added that opposition figures cast doubt over some of his administration’s flagship projects like the expansion of Santo Domingo metro line No. 2 and the sustainable urban mobility plan – that includes the Alcarrizos cable car, a monorail and the Santiago cable car – but some of those projects are well advanced and the Alcarrizos cable car is already in operation. 

Photo: President Abinader at the conference (Source: Presidency of the Dominican Republic)