Line 3 is a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
line of the
Santiago Metro
The Santiago Metro () 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), 143 stations, and of revenue route. The system is managed by the state-owned Metro S. ...
. Traveling from
La Reina in the
east
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
towards the
center, and
Quilicura in the North, Line 3 was originally intended to open in the late 1980s, but the
1985 Algarrobo Earthquake hampered its construction, and a subsequent urban explosion in
Puente Alto
Puente Alto (Spanish: "Tall Bridge") is a city and commune of Chile. It is the capital of the Cordillera Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and is located in the south-east corner of the Greater Santiago conurbation. Puente Alto has ...
and
Maipú (in the far southeast and mid-southwest respectively) further put its construction on hold, until in the early 2010s construction started. The first phase of the project includes 18 stations, which were completed and opened to the public on 22 January 2019 at a cost of US$1.79 billion. The second phase, composed of a three-station extension towards the main square of Quilicura, which was inaugurated on September 25, 2023 with a total project cost of US$378 million. Its distinctive color on the network line map is
chocolate brown.
History

Line 3 was initially planned for construction after Lines
1 and
2 but the
1985 Algarrobo earthquake near Santiago meant work on the new line had to be postponed so that the resources could be used to rebuild the damage caused by the earthquake. In the 1990s, Santiago's transportation needs changed dramatically with a population explosion in the south of the city, especially the
communes of
La Florida, Chile and
Puente Alto
Puente Alto (Spanish: "Tall Bridge") is a city and commune of Chile. It is the capital of the Cordillera Province in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, and is located in the south-east corner of the Greater Santiago conurbation. Puente Alto has ...
, and the plans for Line 3 were postponed again in favour of
Line 5,
Line 4 and
Line 4A in the south.
Despite this, there are pockets of Line 3 works hidden around Santiago, such as the
Ghost Station under
Puente Cal y Canto station, located to the east of the line 2 side of the station, where works were carried out for years.
In 2010, another new line was announced,
Line 6, which once again saw the construction of Line 3 pushed back. Criticism of this delay led finally to the announcement of a new Line 3 construction project by the Chilean government on October 5, 2010. An initial length of track and 18 stations were announced in July 2011, with an extension of announced in May 2012, connecting to an extra station at the Military Hospital. This will provide access to the hospital itself, to
Eulogio Sánchez Airport (better known as Tobalaba Airfield), and to the commune of
La Reina, and close to
Peñalolén.
Line 3 connects with all Santiago Metro lines except for
Line 4A. It connects with
Line 1 at
Universidad de Chile station, with
Line 2 and the future Line 7 at
Puente Cal y Canto station, with
Line 4 at
Plaza Egaña station and with
Line 5 at
Plaza de Armas station and
Irarrázaval station. It also connects with
Line 6 at
Ñuñoa station once Line 3.
Three more stations are scheduled to be open in 2023,
Reconstrucción de Metro obliga a estatal a aplazar un año nuevas lÃneas
/ref> in the commune of Quilicura on the north; however, the expansion to Hospital Militar in La Reina was again dismissed. On January 22, the president Piñera announced that the Hospital Militar station will be constructed after the Lines 7, 8 and 9, are completed in 2028.
Innovations
Line 3 complies with high security and passenger comfort standards. The new security measures include cameras inside the trains, an overhead (catenary) electric transmission line, auto-drive, doors located on the platform, air conditioning in the trains and connections with suburban trains.
Although Line 3 did not suffer any damage in the October 2019 protests (with the exception of Cardenal Caro, which suffered minor damage), Line 3 was nonetheless closed on the weekend of October 18, 2019, due to security issues. Service on Line 3 was partially resumed on October 23, with full service to all stations being established in 2020.
Communes served by Line 3
Line 3 serves the following Santiago communes from north to east:
* Quilicura
* Huechuraba (Indirectly)
* ConchalÃ
* Independencia
* Recoleta (Indirectly)
* Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...
* Ñuñoa
Ñuñoa (; from Mapudungun ''Ñuñohue'', "place of yellow flowers") is a communes of Chile, commune located in the Northeastern zone of Santiago, northeastern sector of Santiago de Chile, Santiago, the capital of Chile. Bordered by Providencia, C ...
* La Reina
Stations
Line 3 stations, from west to east, are:
Line 3 data sheet
* Communes:
** Quilicura
** ConchalÃ
** Independencia
** Santiago
** Ñuñoa
** La Reina
* Track:
** Manuel Antonio Matta Avenue (Quilicura): 3 stations
** Américo Vespucio Avenue: 1 station
** Independencia Avenue: 6 stations
** Bandera Avenue: 2 station
** San Diego Avenue: 1 stations
** Manuel Antonio Matta Avenue (Santiago): 1 station
** Irarrázaval Avenue: 6 stations
** LarraÃn Avenue: 1 stations
* Construction Method:
** Underground
* Opening Dates:
** 2019 (Los Libertadores - Fernando Castillo Velasco)
** 2023 (Los Libertadores - Plaza de Quilicura)
* Rolling stock: CAF-Thales AS-2014
See also
*List of metro systems
This list of metro systems includes electrified rapid transit train systems worldwide. In some parts of the world, metro systems are referred to as subways, undergrounds, tubes, mass rapid transit (MRT), metrô or U-Bahn. 204 cities in 65 cou ...
* Rail transport in Chile
* Red Metropolitana de Movilidad
References
External links
Metro S.A.
Santiago Metro Track Map
Tarjeta Bip!
Plan and Authority of Transit of Santiago de Chile, Transantiago
{{Santiago Metro
2019 establishments in Chile
Railway lines opened in 2019
750 V DC railway electrification