Work on new Santiago metro line set to start this year despite opposition

Construction of line No. 7 of Santiago’s metro is expected to start later this year following the approval of the US$2.5bn project’s environmental impact study (EIS), over two years after it was submitted, although some residents in neighboring areas are opposing it.

“The residents of Renca, Cerro Navia and Vitacura will have a metro service for the first time once this line is inaugurated in 2027,” transport minister Gloria Hutt said in a release.

The 26km east-west line will have 19 stations linking the districts of Renca, Cerro Navia, Quinta Normal, central Santiago, Providencia, Las Condes and Vitacura, and is expected to benefit nearly 1.4mn residents.

Franco Basso, industrial engineer and academic at the Catholic University of Valparaíso (PUCV), told BNamericas that one of the main benefits of the line is that it will help reduce overcrowding on line 1, as a significant portion of line 7 will run parallel to that line.

However, since its submission to environment evaluation service SEA in 2019, the design of the new line has seen some modifications following opposition from neighbors in park areas that would have been affected.

While the city’s Parque Forestal will not have a station as originally envisioned, construction pits will have to be installed, which according to neighbors will have long-term negative effects.

“Once in circulation, the metro vibrations will damage the roots of the remaining trees, causing their demise in five to 10 years,” a statement from the residents’ association of the Bellas Artes neighborhood in central Santiago states, claiming it would turn the park into a “sacrifice zone.”

In response, Basso said the term ‘sacrifice zone’, meaning one with excessive contamination, is not applicable. 

“Actual sacrifice zones like [the town of] Ventanas, where one can’t even breathe due to the smoke from thermoelectric generators, can’t be compared at all with the urbanistic effects that an underground train could have,” he said, while adding that the metro has made significant advances to reduce the negative effects of its construction works. 

FUTURE EXPANSIONS

Metro de Santiago is also working on extensions to lines 2 and 3. 

The US$476mn extension to line 2 is currently 71% complete and involves adding 5.2km and four new stations, which would bring it to the El Bosque and San Bernardo districts in the south of the capital.

In the case of Line 3, a US$378mn extension is 43% finished and will add 3.8km and three new stations to the Quilicura district in the north.

Both projects are expected to be finished by 2023.

Meanwhile, Metro de Santiago is also planning lines 8 and 9 (currently in the engineering phase) and an extension to line 4, which would entail combined investment of US$4bn.

“On a general level, the calendar for the different stages for these three projects is being redefined due to the social and health contingency,” the operator told BNamericas via email.