Santiago Metro Line 2 is one of the seven

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

lines that currently make up the

Santiago Metro The Santiago Metro ( es, Metro de Santiago) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. It currently consists of seven lines (numbered 1-6 and 4A), 136 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by th ...

network in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. It has 22 stations and 20.7 km of track. The line intersects with Line 1 at Los Héroes, with the Line 3 at Puente Cal y Canto, with Line 4A at

La Cisterna La Cisterna (, Spanish for "the cistern") is a commune of Chile and census-designated city located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on 30 May 1925. It is part of Greater Santiago. Demographics According to the ...

, with Line 5 at Santa Ana, and Line 6 at

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

. It will also intersect with the future Line 7 at Puente Cal y Canto. Its distinctive colour on the network map is banana yellow. In 2015, Line 2 accounted for 18.8% of all trips made on the metro with a daily ridership of 325,400.

History

The first section on Line 2 opened to the public on March 31, 1978 running between Los Héroes and

. Later the same year, in December, the next section opened running between

and Lo Ovalle. Plans for an extension southeast towards Rodrigo de Araya were postponed after a major earthquake in 1985; in fact, only two stations opened separately at the line's northern end in 1987 ( Santa Ana and Puente Cal y Canto). Two decades later, with a change of plans, it was decided that Line 2 would continue northwards instead of southeast, owing to recent availability of

Tunnel Boring Machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...

s, and on September 8, 2004, two further stations opened to the north,

Patronato Patronato may refer to: *Club Atlético Patronato, an Argentine football club *Patronato real, an arrangement between the Vatican and the Kingdom of Spain *Barrio Patronato, a ''barrio'' (district) in Santiago, Chile *Patronato metro station Pat ...

and

Cerro Blanco Cerro Blanco is a hill and historical landmark in the city of Santiago, Chile. This geographic feature rises above the surrounding terrain and covers a surface area of . It is bordered by Recoleta Avenue on the east, Santos Dumont Avenue on ...

. These stations marked a new feat in Santiago and overall Chilean engineering by building under the

Mapocho River The River Mapocho ( es, Río Mapocho) ( Mapudungun: ''Mapu chuco'', "water that penetrates the land") is a river in Chile. It flows from its source in the Andes mountains onto the west and divides Chile's capital Santiago in two. Course The Mapo ...

and the Costanera Norte freeway. That year, the line was also extended to the south with the opening of El Parrón and

. Another section opened in the north on November 25, 2005, running from Cerro Blanco station to Einstein station. Finally, on December 22, 2006, the three most recent stations opened: Vespucio Norte, Zapadores and

Dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal c ...

. On October 26, 2009, the express service began to run on Line 2, stopping at certain stations only at peak times, allowing for faster journeys. On November 2, 2017, line 6 opened to the public, intersecting line 2 with line 6 at

. On July 30, 2019, the construction of a southward extension began, where 4 new stations will be added; the extension will be operational by 2023, enabling the metro to serve El Bosque and San Bernando, specifically the El Pino hospital in the latter. In October 2019, a series of protests resulted in damage to the metro network. Line 2 was closed because of a fire in the mezzanine of Vesupcio Norte on October 18, which resulted in moderate damage; a few other stations on Line 2 suffered minor damage. Service on the line was partly restored on October 25 with trains running express between La Cisterna and Zapadores. Full service was restored to Line 2 on November 11. The protests didn't affect the works on the southward extension to San Bernardo.

Communes served by Line 2

This line serves the following communes from North to South: *

Huechuraba Huechuraba () is a city and commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. Huechuraba has a mild mediterranean climate: relatively hot dry summers (November to March) with temperatures reaching up to on the hotte ...

(Indirectly) * Recoleta * Independencia *

* San Miguel *

* El Bosque (2023) * San Bernardo (2023)

Tren Expreso (Express Service)

The

skip-stop Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by having vehicles ''skip'' certain ''stops'' along a route. Originating in rapid transit systems, skip-stop may be also used in light rail and bus s ...

express serviceGuide to the expreso service in Line 2 (Spanish)
www.metrosantiago.cl Retrieved 20 April 2013 works during peak hours and allows trains to stop at alternate stations, reducing the number of stops and the duration of journeys. The stations on the line are divided into “green route” stations, “red route” stations and “common” stations (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''estación común''), where all trains stop and allow passengers to switch between red and green routes. The express service works from Monday to Friday, between 6am - 9am and 6pm - 9pm.

Red Route Stations

* Cementerios *

Parque O'Higgins O'Higgins Park (, formerly known as Parque Cousiño), with an area of around , is Santiago, Chile's second largest public park after Metropolitan Park. It is located in the center of the capital, in the Santiago Commune. The park, named after B ...

* El Llano * Lo Vial * Ciudad Del Niño

Green Route Stations

Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...

* Toesca * Rondizzoni * San Miguel * Departamental * El Parrón

Common Stations

There are 8 stations where both red and green route trains stop. They are the busiest stations and give commuters the chance to change between routes. * Vespucio Norte * Zapadores * Puente Cal y Canto Santiago de Chile L3

* Santa Ana Santiago de Chile L5

* Los Héroes Santiago de Chile L1

* Lo Ovalle *

Stations

Line 2 stations from east to west are:

Line 2 data sheet

* Terminal Communes: Recoleta –

* Track: ** Americo Vespucio Avenue: 1 Station ** Recoleta Avenue: 6 stations ** Puente Cal y Canto, Puente Pedestrian Street: 1 station ** Manuel Rodríguez Avenue: 2 stations ** President Jorge Alessandri Avenue: 3 stations **

Gran Avenida José Miguel Carrera Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" *Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet count ...

: 9 stations ** Padre Hurtado Avenue: 4 stations * Construction methods: ** Hospital El Pino -

: Underground. ** Rondizzoni: Trench **

: Raised embankment. ** North of Parque O'Higgins: Viaduct. ** Toesca: Trench. ** Los Héroes: Underground. ** Santa Ana: Trench. ** Puente Cal y Canto - Vespucio Norte: Underground. * Opening dates: ** Los Héroes–

: March 1978 ** Franklin – Lo Ovalle: December 1978 ** Los Héroes - Puente Cal y Canto: September 1987 ** Puente Cal y Canto –

: September 2004 ** Lo Ovalle –

: December 2004 ** Cerro Blanco –

: November 2005 ** Einstein – Vespucio Norte : December 2006 ** La Cisterna - Hospital El Pino: 2022

References

External links

Metro S.A.

Santiago Metro Map

Tarjeta Bip! contactless cards

Plan and Authority of Transit of Santiago de Chile, Transantiago
* Santiago Metro in Wikipedia in Spanish {{Santiago Metro 1975 establishments in Chile Railway lines in highway medians 750 V DC railway electrification