Dominican Republic launches monorail tender
Dominican Republic
THE government of the Dominican Republic has launched an international tender for the first phase of a new monorail line in Santo Domingo. The project is designed to ease congestion and expand capacity in the capital’s rapidly growing public transport network.
The tender, published by the Trust for the Development of the Dominican Republic’s Mass Tranpsort System (Fitram), covers engineering design, civil works, and related systems for a 10.5km line with 12 stations. Bids are due by October 23. Fitram will oversee procurement, construction and delivery of the new line.
Alignment
The first phase will run from Charles de Gaulle Avenue at the King Juan Carlos Bridge in Santo Domingo East to the Olympic Centre in the National District, providing interchange with metro lines 1 and 2. According to Fitram, the new line will serve a catchment area of more than 1 million residents and is forecast to carry 306,000 passengers daily, with an initial peak capacity of 12,500 passengers per hour per direction.
The line will initially operate with four-car trains with capacity for 562 passengers, allowing the system to carry up to 22,480 passengers per hour per direction at 90-second headways. Infrastructure is designed accommodate six-car trains in the future, increasing capacity to 34,160 passengers per hour per direction.
Future phases will extend the monorail west to Pintura, where it will connect with cable car Line 3, and to the Duarte Highway, providing an interchange with metro Line 2C at Los Alcarrizos. Together with the city’s metro and cable car lines, the monorail will form a core element of the Santo Domingo Integrated Transport System (SIT-SD), aimed at shifting over one million trips from private vehicles to public transport.
Santiago monorail
Construction of the Dominican Republic’s first monorail project, in Santiago de los Caballeros, is due for completion at the end of this year. The 13km fully automated line, which will have 14 stations, will connect the northwest and southeast areas of the city, with a fleet of 13 four-car Innovia 300 trains manufactured by Alstom in Canada.
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