Chile's President Ricardo Lagos announced on Nov. 15 the start of two projects to extend the Metropolitan Railroad, slated for 2009, to benefit several impoverished districts around the capital One is the extension of Line 1 east from Santiago, to connect with one of the main stations of the Transantiago network, a vast modernization project targeting the bus system.

The second is a new line, which connected to the existing Line 5, will cut travel time by 1.5 hours for residents of Maipú who currently commute by bus to the central Plaza de Armas in Santiago.

“I'm pleased. In Maipú we need the train, which will also reduce the air pollution coming from buses and cars,” university student Lorenzo Contreras said in a conversation with Tierraméric