# DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | High Speed Rail



## Vtroy (Jan 15, 2007)

*Dominican mountain railway’s route to be unveiled in 2 weeks*










SANTIAGO.- The route of the Santo Domingo-Santiago (HVT) High speed train for passengers and freight train, whose construction president Leonel Fernandez announced in September last year, will be presented November 25 in Santiago.

Transport Reform Office (Opret) spokesman Leonel Carrasco will present the project, said Dominican Engineers, Architects and Surveyors Guild (Codia) north region president Silvio Durán, in a press conference.

He said Carrasco will explain the reaches of the railway system. The Haina-Santiago dual service freight and passengers trains will span 125 kilometers with stations in the subdivision Los Alcarrizos, and the central towns Villa Altagracia, Bonao and La Vega. It’s estimated that it can ply the entire route in 30 minutes.

The DR has selected the new HVT model offered by Alstom from France, a company responsible for the Metropolis model in service in the SD Metro. The Metropolis is the latest generation of Metro cars in the market today, capable of being operated on a fully automated basis, without drivers and by computers. The SD Metro operates to the moment one Line in service, but execution of a second line is underway.

The survey company ATTECO continues to carry out work along the planned route of the HVT/Freight trains. The reason for the entry of the construction of the planned HVT/Freight train has to do with the new Line 2 end terminal in Los Alcarrizos, which will serve as the link between the passengers of the HVT and the SD Metro for complete mobility into the City of SD.

The freight train tracks will continue to head towards the port facility at Caucedo and other links to the industrial parks in Santo Domingo and Santiago. In effective taking an untold number of freight trucks that impact the maintenance and security of major roadways in the country.

The super high speed service train is due to carry passengers at the commercial speed of 360 kph. The newest line to be incorporated into Alstom offerings, the AGV, is the one chosen by the Dominican authorities as the speed ceiling is supported well over 500 kph. A future reference of support depending on how much demand grows with the soon to enter service passenger train, the speed can be increased to accommodate more trips during the same time schedule and still keep the same tracks for the freight services to share the infrastructure during the passenger's off time service.


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## Motorways (Jul 1, 2009)

Wow! great news. really impresive! Hope to receive more news about this project soon!

Enhorabuena amigos, magnifica noticia lo de este proyecto!


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

this sounds like the definition of exaggeration


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## Occit (Jul 24, 2005)

WOW great news...DR is growing so fast. First its gorgeous metro, then this. I have been there and the people is very nice.


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## corredor06 (Oct 13, 2008)

Nice project to go along with their metro.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

gramercy said:


> this sounds like the definition of exaggeration


I agree , DR is too small for HSR , its would be = Majorca getting HSR , its worthless , maybe a regular Rail line but HSR , that sounds like a big waste of money , and i doubt this will happenhno:


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## [email protected] (Jan 17, 2004)

gramercy said:


> this sounds like the definition of exaggeration


The Dominican Republic is certainly large enough to justify a HSR. It has about the same size as Taiwan and the HSR here had an enormous impact shortening travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung from 5 hours to 1 hour 35 min.

But they should really extend it eastwards instead of building just a short track between Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo. My suggestion would be 'Santiago de los Caballeros - Santo Domingo - San Pedro de Macoris - Higuey', that would make a lot more sense.


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## gramercy (Dec 25, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> The Dominican Republic is certainly large enough to justify a HSR. It has about the same size as Taiwan and the HSR here had an enormous impact shortening travel time between Taipei and Kaohsiung from 5 hours to 1 hour 35 min.
> 
> But they should really extend it eastwards instead of building just a short track between Santiago de los Caballeros and Santo Domingo. My suggestion would be 'Santiago de los Caballeros - Santo Domingo - San Pedro de Macoris - Higuey', that would make a lot more sense.


Taiwan is about 3x richer
and even there they are struggling with profitability


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## london24/7 (Jan 9, 2009)

gramercy said:


> Taiwan is about 3x richer
> and even there they are struggling with profitability


Actually the Taiwan HSR makes an operating profit.. but because it was financed with private sector loans the intrest is huge and it can't afford to pay the interest.. if the construction capital was paid for by the government like the TGV lines then the government could have recouped their investment from the profitable operations.. as it is the government is now having to take on the debts of the company to stop the whole thing going bankrupt. could have save time and money in the first place if everyone didn't think the free market was the new jesus


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## andrelot (Aug 6, 2008)

I'm against these HSR projects where track ownership AND rolling stock AND operation are held by the same state company. It is just a receipt for financial disaster.


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## Vtroy (Jan 15, 2007)

gramercy said:


> this sounds like the definition of exaggeration


So was this:










And they got it right, setting an example to other developing countries.



Feasibility study of Santo Domingo-Santiago train to be ready by mid 2010 Santo Domingo.– The preliminary results of a feasibility study being carried out for the cargo and high speed passenger train connecting the Santo Domingo to northern Santiago city will be ready by mid 2010. According to Franklin Lithgow, of the country's investment promotion agency CEI-RD, the train is completely necessary. "We are moving forward with the project, but a date for the train to start operations has not yet been established." Two international firms are carrying out studies to determine whether the train can operate between Santo Domingo and Santiago, Lithgow added. The train will have the capacity to transport approximately 46,000 passengers per day and reach maximum speeds of 250km/h. Earlier this month, the French government expressed its interest in financing the initiative through a public-private partnership scheme.

Source Dominicantoday.


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## Euromax (Jan 5, 2008)

This is one the greatest news in the history of infrastructure in the country. I'm not 100% sure yet, but there can be many different possibilities on how, and when the project starts. Lest see. but i'm super hopeful about this. 

I Think that by mid of this year we can get to hear about this important project being initiated, Opret (the main national transit organization) seems to have changed its policies this last 4-5 years, so this will be at fast speed! .


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## Marbur66 (Mar 1, 2009)

Wow, I must say that I'm surprised. Good for DR.


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## Dan (Jun 16, 2007)

Max 250 km/h? A lot lower than the original article at the top!


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## Euromax (Jan 5, 2008)

Dan said:


> Max 250 km/h? A lot lower than the original article at the top!


We not sure wich type of train will be , if the hight speed or that 250 km/ h 
we need to see what will be the outcomes. But i think a 250 km/ h train is enought!.....


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## Euromax (Jan 5, 2008)

Although the project hasn't officially started yet. A massive terminal (E0) is being built for the capital's metro system's second route. This terminal will serve as a link for the future (cargo & passenger train line)

pics





















possible train might look like Spain's AVE 





source: Forumist MOPCOPRET


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## k.k.jetcar (Jul 17, 2008)

> Taiwan is about 3x richer
> and even there they are struggling with profitability


Actually, in GDP terms Taiwan is 15 times "richer"/bigger than the Dominican Republic (699 billion USD vs. 46 billion USD). For the D.R., quite a jump from the current system, which was mainly built to serve the sugar cane industry, to 250km/h passenger trains. But apparently France is interested in financing, so if they think it is viable, who knows?

Btw, Vietnam, which has a GDP of 91 billion USD, is also planning to build a high speed railway, with Japanese technology and financial aid. But Vietnam is much, much larger than the Dominican Republic and has the second-fastest growing economy in Asia.


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## Nexis (Aug 7, 2007)

Bump , any updates on this project?


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## FM 2258 (Jan 24, 2004)

My eyes widened at the threat title. Wonder if they'll get it.


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