January 30, 2009
The Santo Domingo Metro, a rapid transit system operating in the metropolitan area of the capital of the Dominican Republic, was officially opened for commercial service for the public. (Along being capital of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo is that country’s largest city; in addition, the metropolitan area bearing this city’s name is largest one by population in the entire Caribbean region.)
This first line of the Santo Domingo Metro had been unofficially opened the on February 27, 2008. On December 22 of that year, non-commercial operations for the system began. Starting the next day, the Santo Domingo provided free passenger service for the public during part of the holiday season. This came to an end on January 6, 2009, when the system was closed so that preparations could be made for its formal opening.
This official debut took place 24 days later, when the inaugural line of the Santo Domingo was opened for full commercial service starting at 6:00 a.m. The previous evening, a ceremony commemorating this milestone was held at the system’s Centro de Los Héroes station. Those participating in this ceremony included Leonel Fernández, who served as president of the Dominican Republic from 1996 to 2000 and again between 2004 and 2012.
The Santo Domingo Metro now covers 19.3 miles (31 kilometers) altogether. It encompasses a total of two lines and 34 stations. (The second line was inaugurated in April 2013.) The Santo Domingo Metro holds the record as the most extensive metro network — in terms of both miles and the number of stations — in the Caribbean region.
Photo Credit: Josse9508 (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)
For more information on rail transportation in the Dominican Republic, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_the_Dominican_Republic
Transportation History 
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