The Valparaíso Metro is the commuter rail system serving the urban conglomeration of Gran Valparaíso, Chile. It consists of one line, 43 kilometres long, serving 20 stations, connecting the cities of Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Quilpué, Villa Alemana, and Limache . It is administered by Metro Regional de Valparaíso S.A., a subsidiary of the Chilean state-owned train company Empresa de los Ferrocarriles del Estado. The Valparaíso Metro began with the conversion of an interurban service on the Valparaíso-Santiago Railway into more rapid transit-like service in 2005 – the renovated line was inaugurated on November 23, 2005 and began service the following day. The Valparaíso Metro carried 19.66 million passengers in 2016.Together with the much bigger Santiago Metro, it is one of the only two underground urban rail systems in Chile . However, it is not a full metro system due to the existence of various level crossings and the long distances between stations. As a result of the presence of at-grade level crossings and regional rail character, the Valparaíso Metro is more analogous to a commuter rail system. Studies are being done to assess the feasibility of extending the line further inland along the Valparaíso-Santiago Railway to serve the towns of Quillota, La Cruz, and La Calera which are currently being served by intercity buses that feed into Limache Station. In addition, passenger and freight service between Valparaíso and Santiago is proposed to use the line.
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