NewsWhore
10-04-2011, 05:50 PM
For the most part the Santo Domingo Metro has been godsend to the select group of riders benefitted by very reliable quality transport service on the first line. A technical failure in the third car caused a mechanical failure in one of the three Metro trains and left hundreds of passengers stranded and chaos in the transport system that goes to and from Villa Mella, being the exception in the otherwise very good service, and making headlines. "It was just a failure that we are repairing, but nothing happened. The train was entering when it failed, but thank God it was empty," said Leonel Carrasco, deputy director of the Transport Reorganization Office (Opret).
Nonetheless, several passengers who were stranded in the Hermanas Mirabal station denied that version and said that the train "was coming from Villa Mella full of people." "That is not true, I was on the Metro, and I got a terrible fright. We were told that there was a mechanical failure in one of the cars," said Eduardo Restituyo.
All Metro stations located between Villa Mella and the National District were closed until almost 11:30am, although they were still providing services from the National District to Villa Mella. The stops at Hermanas Mirabal, Mama Tingo, Gregorio Urbano Gilbert, Gregorio Luperon and Jose Francisco Pena Gomez were closed until the fault was repaired, which occurred around noontime when service was re-established.
According to the train driver, he had to detour the train when he felt the breakdown and could not continue on the route, getting stranded close to the bridge at La Isabela. After the technical failure occurred, the buses and public cars took advantage of the situation and raised their prices by RD$5, which caused some heated protests from passengers. The train remained stuck some 30 meters from the Maximo Gomez station on the banks of the Isabela River. According to reports there was a breakdown that derailed the car. The train that was stuck was an Alstom Metropolis 9,000, composed of three latest generation cars, manufactured in Belgium, Spain and France.
In the Mama Tingo station in Villa Mella, hundreds of people gathered in the hallways and other areas to wait for the service to resume. In other stations the members of the Metro security teams kept passengers informed about the problems. A long line of people was seen all along the Hermanas Mirabal Avenue in Villa Mella and on Maximo Gomez Avenue. The Jacinto Bienvenido Peynado Bridge, which links the National District with Villa Mella, was congested with people who crossed on foot as they tried to reach Maximo Gomez with Nicolas de Ovando in an attempt to find some other way of getting to their jobs.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)
Nonetheless, several passengers who were stranded in the Hermanas Mirabal station denied that version and said that the train "was coming from Villa Mella full of people." "That is not true, I was on the Metro, and I got a terrible fright. We were told that there was a mechanical failure in one of the cars," said Eduardo Restituyo.
All Metro stations located between Villa Mella and the National District were closed until almost 11:30am, although they were still providing services from the National District to Villa Mella. The stops at Hermanas Mirabal, Mama Tingo, Gregorio Urbano Gilbert, Gregorio Luperon and Jose Francisco Pena Gomez were closed until the fault was repaired, which occurred around noontime when service was re-established.
According to the train driver, he had to detour the train when he felt the breakdown and could not continue on the route, getting stranded close to the bridge at La Isabela. After the technical failure occurred, the buses and public cars took advantage of the situation and raised their prices by RD$5, which caused some heated protests from passengers. The train remained stuck some 30 meters from the Maximo Gomez station on the banks of the Isabela River. According to reports there was a breakdown that derailed the car. The train that was stuck was an Alstom Metropolis 9,000, composed of three latest generation cars, manufactured in Belgium, Spain and France.
In the Mama Tingo station in Villa Mella, hundreds of people gathered in the hallways and other areas to wait for the service to resume. In other stations the members of the Metro security teams kept passengers informed about the problems. A long line of people was seen all along the Hermanas Mirabal Avenue in Villa Mella and on Maximo Gomez Avenue. The Jacinto Bienvenido Peynado Bridge, which links the National District with Villa Mella, was congested with people who crossed on foot as they tried to reach Maximo Gomez with Nicolas de Ovando in an attempt to find some other way of getting to their jobs.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#10)