Valparaíso Metro
 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Metro Valparaíso |
| Locale | Gran Valparaíso, Chile |
| Transit type | Rapid transit/heavy rail |
| Number of lines | 1 |
| Number of stations | 20 |
| Annual ridership | 19.3 million (2015) |
| Website | Metro Valparaíso |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | November 23, 2005 |
| Operator(s) | Metro Valparaíso |
| Character | Mostly at-grade, with a subway section |
| Headway | 6–12 minutes |
| Technical | |
| System length | 43 km (27 mi) |
| Track gauge |
1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) (Indian gauge) |
| Electrification | N/A |
The Valparaíso Metro (Spanish: Metro Valparaíso, also called "Merval") is the rapid transit heavy rail system serving the urban conglomeration of Gran Valparaíso, Chile. It consists of one line, 43 kilometres (27 mi) long, serving 20 stations, connecting the cities of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana, and Limache (outside the Valparaíso conurbation).
It is administered by Metro Regional de Valparaíso S.A., a subsidiary of the Chilean state-owned train company Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado. The Valparaíso Metro began with the conversion of an interurban rail line into more rapid transit-like service in 2005 – the renovated line was inaugurated on November 23, 2005 and began rapid transit operations the following day. The Valparaíso Metro carried 19.31 million passengers in 2015.
Together with the much bigger Santiago Metro, it is one of the only two subway systems in Chile (the Valparaíso Metro has a 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) underground stretch from Miramar through Chorrillos stations in Viña del Mar), "but cannot be classified as a full metro due to the existence of various level crossings and the long distances between stations on the eastern section of the line" according to Robert Schwandl of UrbanRail.net. As a result of the presence of at-grade level crossings, the Valparaíso Metro is most analogous to a light rail system.
Valparaíso had an interurban passenger train system since the 19th century, but it could not be considered a rapid transit system due to infrequent service and other operational shortcomings. In 1999 construction began on the current system, tearing down the old interurban stations and building new ones with an homologous design. In Viña del Mar, a tunnel over 5-kilometre (3.1 mi) long was constructed. New trains arrived in Chile on February 22, 2005 and the old system was decommissioned on June 30 that year, in favor of the new Valparaíso Metro rapid transit system on the line.
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