THE FIRST three-car Metropolis trainset built at Alstom's Barcelona plant for the 14 km metro line currently under construction in Santo Domingo arrived in the Dominican Republic last month. Transport authority Opret had announced the €92·5m contract for 19 three-car trains in June 2006.
The standard-gauge units have air-conditioning, CCTV and onboard passenger information displays, and according to the manufacturer they will accommodate up to 617 passengers.
The partially-elevated metro Line 1 is scheduled to open in September 2008. Electrified at 1·5 kV DC, it will serve 16 stations on a route from Villa Mella in the north of the capital to La Feria to the south, improving access to commercial centres and the universities in the congested city.
