Santo Domingo Metro

[NALs]

Originally Posted by suarezn

This is all great, except for one little problem....There's no money to implement this because the money is being either stolen, spent on political pork barrel projects or (most of it) to build and maintain The Metro.

What?

Hm, lets see... out of 300 billion pesos being allocated for the 2008 government budget, a meager 4% is directed towards the metro (12 billion).

Um, how is 4% most of the money? What do you call the remaining 96% (288 billion pesos) of the budget that is not directed to the metro?

Of course, that's only 4% of the budget; as a percentage of GDP (PPP), it would be more or less 0.5% of all the money that is produced in the DR.

That doesn't sound like most of the money, that's not even half, not even a third, not even a quarter of the money.

Just wondering.

-NALs

[NALs]

By the way, of the 300 billion pesos budget for this year, over 10% is being diverted towards... get this... public education! In fact, at over 31 billion pesos (the highest amount ever directed towards education in the history of the country); public education is the largest expenditure for this year.

Hm... Metro gets 12 billion, public education gets 31 billion; yet the rumor mills are at work making it seem as if the metro is getting all the money and education getting a cut.

I understand many people are not too supportive of the Metro idea and I understand that many DR1ers are simply repeating whatever they get from the rumor mills, of which there are many, almost all of them influenced by politics.

I do ask everyone to review well what is being told to them, because more often than not, the rumor mills are wrong.

-NALs

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Narcosis

Please explain what makes this a light rail system. They are going to use Alstom Metropolis 9000's same as in use on the newest subway lines in Barcelona Spain.

I always thought light rail was a tram or other ground level systems which share the street with cars.

The Metropolis 9000 is a light rail system not even close to the heavy rail Metro used by the countries used as examples by Jon S.

The shell life of a light rail car is not comparable to that of the heavy rail, and can't even begin to list the major points that separate the two; I'll leave that to more competent knowledgeable DR1s to explain, as I'm not any expert on the issue.

The SD Metro being that all the infrastructure is built with future applications as a whole, is enjoying a far better and best use of all the technological advances that such systems represent even over the Barcelona light rail system...

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by NALs

My guess is that Jon S. is assuming that because the trains will receive their electricity via catenaries, that it makes them light rail.

-NALs

Nope! No assuming here! The SD Metro is a light rail system...

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Narcosis

I'll take the Alstom Metropolis 9000's over any "REAL" metro rolling stock any day..

How do you campare riding a noisy, shaking, train in NY or London to the new modern metro lines in Barcelona? Riding on the Barcelona metro you feel the difference from the new air conditioned and quiet Metropolis 9000's to the older models.

The answer to that is not much to the riders but system's maintenance and life span... Heavy rail is far more manageable considering the investments on rolling stock than their light rail counterparts...

But as you pointed out from your personal experience, light rail fits the immediate needs of the dense metropolis of SD just fine, for now...

[Funnyyale26]

Go to skyscrapercity.com, the Republica Dominicana section...the reason why SD can't have a heavy rail system is because of the soil conditions in DR.

[PICHARDO]

Originally Posted by Funnyyale26

Go to skyscrapercity.com, the Republica Dominicana section...the reason why SD can't have a heavy rail system is because of the soil conditions in DR.

Not necessarily so...

The whole issue with heavy rail is the commitment of major initial funds to have a working line VS the smaller light rail initial setup cost to operations.

The soil conditions are more of an issue regarding infrastructures to be built above level, not underground...

The SD Metro is NOT just what it seems now, but give it time and the final goal for the infrastructure being erected for it now will come to light...