At 8:05 am on 19 January 2024, in the presence of the Minister Secretary General of the Government, Camila Vallejo, the Minister of Transport, Juan Carlos Muñoz and the president of EFE Trenes de Chile, Eric Martin, the inaugural journey of the new express service began. This service will connect Santiago and Curicó in two hours and will use new BMU trains.
The launch of this equipment is a milestone for EFE and for Chile, as it is first time in the country’s history that a commercial railway has reached 160 km/h.
The express will operate from Sunday to Friday, with three services in each direction and a capacity of 236 seats. This is in addition to a further two services in each direction using standard equipment, which has a capacity of 180 seats. On Saturdays, there will be two express services in each direction and one standard service.
On the occasion, the Government spokesperson stated: “Trains for Chile do not only mean better connectivity and decentralisation, but also greater sustainability and better development. This inauguration of the first rapid train service should fill us with pride, because we are advancing towards greater development.”
Camila Vallejo added: “President Gabriel Boric has asked all the members of his government and all the country’s authorities to work more intensely in 2024 to fulfil the commitments that we made to our compatriots. To be on the ground and in the streets, inaugurating the dreams we envisaged 1, 2 or even 3 years ago. To move forward and say that our country can advance, that our country can improve standards in all its regions, and that our country can take care of the challenges that remain.”
In turn, the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Juan Carlos Muñoz, said: “Chile is once again at the forefront of transport, with trains equal to those used in Europe and elsewhere around the world. We are taking concrete action to connect our cities and our regions. We are providing people with better ways to travel, to a high-quality standard, which will improve well-being and quality of life. Ensuring that our country has a wide train network is a transversal and historical desire that the government of President Gabriel Boric assumed as a commitment. We are making progress to fulfil that commitment, as we are demonstrating today.”
For his part, the president of EFE, Eric Martin, pointed out that: “We are experiencing a historic event, a great day to help celebrate our 140-year anniversary. Not only are we making a new service available to the public, we are setting a new standard and writing a new chapter in the history of the State Railways. We invite everyone to use this express service to Curicó and, in the future, to Chillán.”
Ticket sales are enabled on the EFE website and tickets for the express service are available at a promotional price of 10,900 Chilean pesos.
The new BMU trains arrived in Chile in March and June 2023, and have a range of modern features, including reclining seats (up to 170 degrees), universal accessibility, toilets adapted for persons with reduced mobility, a fully equipped cafeteria and information screens for users.
This express service will be extended to Talca in March and fully implemented to Chillán during the second quarter of 2024.
(Source: efe, Trenes de Chile)
