Diandino Peña, Director of the Transit Reform Office (OPRET), announced that the Santo Domingo Metro will be up and running and open to the public no later than December 2008.

...he announced that the Santo Domingo Metro will be up and running and open to the public no later than December 2008.

He revealed that they are currently recruiting hundreds of young people whom they are training and expect to be able to incorporate into the various areas of the Metro’s technical staff.

Peña noted that some 400 to 500 young people are being integrated into areas of work such as electricians, mechanics, electronics and computer experts and other technological areas to later continue their training in the universities, according to the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

He explained that these young people will be future conductors, line chiefs, station chiefs and train dispatchers. He added that they will occupy important control posts in the train and “for that reason they are being selected very carefully.”

The OPRET Director also announced that the 42 train cars needed to complete the Santo Domingo Metro System are in the process of arriving to the country. He reminded people that there are already 19 train cars in the country.

“The work on the Metro is almost complete but we need to finalize the technological signaling system which is the basis for demonstrating to Metro users how the system is accessed and how the routes function,” he explained.

He added that Charles de Gaulle Station, where several Punta lines converge such as Yamasà, La Victoria, Sabana and others, will function in an integral system, allowing passengers to use their same metro ticket on the city busses.

“People are going to see an amazing and profound change with this efficient public transport system,” he pledged.

Being interviewed in the National Palace, Engineer Diandino Peña, said that this is the first time in the world that a train has been built and is running in just one year. He added that operating a Metro system is just as difficult as building one.