13 Santiago Monorail trains under assembly in France

France.- Thirteen of the 15 trains that will operate on the Santiago Monorail are currently being assembled at Alstom’s Belfort facility in France, marking a major milestone in the development of the Dominican Republic’s largest urban transportation project.

During a technical visit to the plant, Jhael Isa, executive director of FITRAM, reviewed the manufacturing and logistics processes ahead of the trains’ delivery to Santiago. The first two Innovia 300 monorail trains arrived in the country in 2024. Each four-car train can carry up to 590 passengers and includes accessibility features such as wheelchair spaces, audio announcements, priority seating, and passenger information systems.

The Santiago Monorail is designed to transport up to 20,000 passengers per hour in each direction, reaching speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour with train intervals of 90 seconds. Alstom also unveiled its new assembly line in Belfort, where the trains are being produced using technology developed following its acquisition of Bombardier in 2021.

The 13-kilometer elevated rail system will connect Cienfuegos and Pekín through 14 stations and a central terminal integrated with Santiago’s cable car network. Once operational, the system is expected to serve more than 500,000 people, reduce transportation costs and traffic congestion, improve productivity, and lower environmental impact.

FITRAM reported that the project has reached 92.6% overall completion after more than four years of construction, with train deliveries expected to continue beginning later this year as the system moves closer to entering service.