Santiago–Valparaíso railway line

The Santiago–Valparaíso railway is a railway line linking the Chilean capital city Santiago with the port city of Valparaíso.

History
The existing rail line between Santiago and Valparaíso was opened in 1863, and is 187 km long, single-track and designed to avoid steep gradients through mountainous terrain. Passenger service ceased on this line in 1987, and freight traffic almost non-existent since then. Proposals have existed since the 1990s to build a more direct line between the two cities for passengers and freight. The section from Valparaíso to Limache was doubled and put underground in Viña del Mar as part of the Valparaíso Metro.

Current proposals


A study commissioned by EFE in 2016 outlined three different potential routes for a new Santiago–Valparaíso line, using the Chilean rail network's existing Indian gauge, and cost between US$4–5 billion.

In 2018, a proposal was submitted by the Tren Valparaíso Santiago consortium of local firm Sigdo Koppers and China Railway Engineering Corporation. The US$2.5 billion plan consisted of a 127 km line with four stations to be designed for passenger trains to run at up to 220 km/h, offering an end-to-end journey time of 45 min, around half the time currently taken by road. The line would also be suitable for freight trains operating at up to 85 km/h.