Biotrén

The biotrén is a Chilean suburban metropolitan railroad system, which covers part of the great conception. It provides service to the communes of Concepción, Talcahuano, Hualpén, San Pedro de la Paz, Coronel, Chiguayante and Hualqui.

was opened in 1999, being remodeled by South Railways (FESUR) in 2005 and administered by the Zonal Management of the Biobío of the State Railways (EFE) until September 2006, when the management of that company and began to be part of the Integrated Conception Transportation System, Biovías. Since May 2008, it has been administered by EFE Sur Filial Company of the Company of the State Railways (EFE).

The inauguration of the new biotrén was carried out on November 24, 2005, in the presence of President Ricardo Lagos. The extension of line 2 of the bioten to Colonel was announced in February 2013. On February 29, 2016 it began The sale of tickets and user cards, and at 06:45 on March 1, 2016, the first service from Colonel to Concepción came out.

HISTORY

Biotrén was launched in December 1999. In the beginning it only had three stations and two stops (I generation). For operation, four Japanese automotive of the AEL series were reconditioned.

In 2001 the new stops (II generation) were completed and the Hualqui rail workshop began operating. The stretch was pending the lions, the combination with buses and the double chiguayante via - La Leonera. Then two AES cars arrived.

In 2003 the Plaza El Ancla station was built. Then the roads were built towards that station and electrified until the La Unión crossing. However, it did not occupy until 2005, after reconditioning.

On January 5, 2004, Biovías was presented, the integrated transport system of the Great Concepción, which included the renewal of biotrén.

The suburban Railways of Concepción S.A. The tender of the works. On the other hand, the State Railroad Company included works in its railway security project and in its contracts for the provision of railway infrastructure (CPIF) of the Central Zone Project (PZC) and the signaling, electrification and communications project (SEC).

In 2005, a replacement of equipment on the roads occurred, the new railroads that arrived at the service were reached. Three UT 440 of the Metotrén Service were reformed and seven renowned automotive renamed automotors were renowned as UT440MC (Concepción Model). Although the UT440MC and UT440 are aesthetically different, mechanically they are the same.

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On May 1, 2008, Ferrocarriles Suburbanos de Concepción S.A. assumes the administration of the biotern passenger service.

In 2013, Fesub S.A. carried out the project of increase in frequencies online 2. a new station with two platforms in the Michaihue sector, specifically at the corner of Av. Michaihue and on Route 160, as well as new deviations for the crossing of trains In addition, new platforms were built at the Juan Pablo II station (North platform) and in Lomas Coloradas (East). In the first days of September of the same year, frequencies in the morning increased from 30 minutes to 18 minutes.

On February 29, 2016, line 2 of the biotrén began to operate to Colonel. By March 2017, it had a use of 19 thousand daily passengers.

On October 26, 2018, the acquisition of 13 new railroads for southern services is announced: 10 of them will be allocated for Biotrén. The new trains should arrive in Chile in 2020.

During the June 2019 public account of President Sebastián Piñera announced the intentions of extending the service from the Colonel station to Lota and from the Concepción Station to Penco, this also added with the construction of a new railway bridge over The Bíobío River.

Extension to Colonel

In June 2007, a tender was called for the study of the extension of the Biotrén to Coronel.

In June 2009, the burying of the Biotrén railway line in Concepción from Av. Los Carrera to Av. Esmeralda was approved, which implies the construction of a tunnel 1055 meters long at 7.5 meters deep on the northern bank of the Biobío. With this, a tender for the study was going to be called in mid-2010 and the execution of the works was projected for 2011. However, the 2010 Chile earthquake changed the budgets, ruling out burial as a priority. Even so, the idea remained in the collective unconscious, and in 2014 said plan re-emerged after the conflict between the residents of the Aurora town in Chile (near the line) with the authorities over the Av extension project. Chacabuco to connect it with its homonymous bridge over the Biobío River which, in principle, would be by elevated viaduct. However, faced with the issue, the authorities reevaluated this situation and proposed as a solution that Av. Chacabuco would be at ground level while the train line would be buried.

Soon, studies will be expedited so that the Biotrén reaches the center of Concepción, where the Regional Hospital and the Collao Bus Terminal (interurban) are located, which means an extension of five kilometers. This will allow increasing demand for the Biotrén, added to the Lomas Coloradas-Coronel extension, an extension whose entry into operation was on March 1, 2016. In addition, the current railway bridge that connects Concepción with the south of the Biobío River (San Pedro de la Paz, Coronel, Lota and the Province of Arauco) will be replaced by another three-lane runway, whose length will be two kilometers, in order to make cargo development compatible with the increase in passenger services to Coronel.

On March 1, 2016, the Coronel-Concepción service began operating, which meant an extension of line 2 by 17 km, with seven new stations. This translated into travel time savings of up to an hour. The Minister of Transport and Telecommunications announced, on April 1, 2016, that after the end of the white march stage, the trains that make the 23 km route between Concepción and Coronel will have a frequency of 15 minutes and not every half hour.. He also announced that the next two Biotrén projects will be the replacement of the current railway bridge over the Biobío River, which dates back to the 19th century, and the burying of the road, to reach the center of Concepción.

Modernization and collapse of line 2

In October 2018, the CSR Sifang company won the international tender for the construction of 12 new three-car electric railcars, nine of which were for Biotrén. The new SFE railcar trains arrived in different periods of 2021, and entered into service. operations during September and October of the same year.

At the beginning of 2022, with the relaxation of measures in the subsequent stage of the Covid-19 pandemic that included the return of students to in-person, added to the road collapse of Route CH-160, the service begins to operate « “Expreso San Pedro” on February 28, which will provide exclusive coverage to the Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez, Lomas Coloradas, El Parque, Costamar, Alborada, Diagonal Biobío and Juan Pablo II stations, all of which belong to line 2 of the Biotrén, within from the commune of San Pedro de la Paz. Services are provided from Monday to Friday during limited hours. As the months went by, a variant of this two-way service was enabled between Intermodal Coronel and Juan Pablo II.

Even with the new service, Biotrén was overwhelmed due to the increase in passengers using the line 2 service, increasing from 32 thousand to 37 thousand passengers. On March 18, EFE announces that two new services will be added: from Cristo Redentor station to Concepción station and from Concepción to Coronel.

The massive use of the service since the second part of the pandemic did not reduce the high levels of vehicle congestion in Greater Concepción, which is why EFE Sur reported that between August 17 and 19, 2022, three more will be added additional services on line 1 between the Concepción and Chiguayante stations, the first modification to the itineraries of said line since the renewal of the service in 2005.

Cutting of the old railway bridge between 2022 and 2023

One of the greatest impediments to increase the number of services specifically on line 2 is the Biobío Railway Bridge, whose useful life extended in 2005 for 20 years, fulfilling the term in 2025. Preview this situation, in 2017 The process for the construction of the new Biobío Railway Bridge began in Concepción that replaced the old bridge, which began works in December 2022. However, on the days of starting the works, the first closure of the old viaduct between 2022 and 2023, from December 9, caused by the coup of a tree to one of the pillars of the bridge, located in strain 11, and that endured until April 17, 2023 when it was reopened, passing four closed months. A second cut of the viaduct occurred on June 27, 2023, product of the increase in the flow of the Biobío River as a result of the storm that affected the central-south area of Chile, and that last noon. The third and fourth interruption happened in The month of August 2023 for a new rise in the flow product of a frontal system that affected the country, originally closing its passage between August 21 and 22, but then closed again on August 24 since the last Increase in flow caused damage to strains 29 and 30, which will have the bridge closed for at least 60 days. These have been four cuts of the railway viaduct in less than a year, and three in less than two months.

The closures of the old bridge caused the service of Line 2 to be interrupted between the Concepción and Juan Pablo II stations, leaving the line completely disconnected with the Commune of Concepción. During these interruptions, Efe Sur ordered connection buses between both stations, generating at the Sampedrina station a provisional bus terminal on the adjoining site, belonging to the old Papelera Bio Bio company, evaluating even in September 2023 Implement " Clones " Great conception, especially in the vehicular bridges that connect the commune of Concepción with the communes of the south of the metropolitan area (Llacolen, Juan Pablo II, and Bicentennial). In addition, the collective locomotion of the great conception in each railway court operated to its maximum ability. In both situations, the authorities will decree on two opportunities for vehicular restriction during Punta times: on the Llacolén bridge between February 17 and April 17, 2023, to which the implementation of a track only buses was added in its entirety; And then on the CH-160 route since September 4, 2023.

Railway accident of San Pedro de la Paz of 2023

To the entire collapse of Line 2 occurred for 2023, a serious railway accident occurred on September 1, 2023, at the Crossing at the level of Av. Daniel Beltrán, which joins the populous sector of Boca Sur de San Pedro de la Paz and the Ch-160 route, when a tender taxa of the company No. 23 " San Pedro del Mar " It crosses the railway line while the barrier is down, being laterally impacted by a biotern machine, which left 7 deaths and a dozen injured. This caused a complete interruption of line 2, retaking on September 4. The accident opened various discussions about the lack of roads and quality in public transport of the Great Conception, but in particular with respect to biotrén, there were those who questioned the high number of crosses at the entire section between San Pedro de la La Paz and Colonel of the CH-160 route.

Stations

Line 1 From northwest to southeast	Line 2 From center to southwest
Talcahuano Market Station El Arenal Station Hospital Las Higueras Station Station The Condors UTFSM Station Lorenzo Arenas Station Estación Concepción Chiguayante Station Estación Pedro Medina Manquimávida Station Estación La Leonera Hualqui Station	Estación Concepción Station John Paul II Biobio Diagonal Station Alborada Station Estación Costa Mar Estación El Parque Estación Lomas Coloradas Estación Cardenal Raúl Silva Henríquez Hito Galvarino Station Estación Los Canelos Huinca Station Estación Cristo Redentor Estación Laguna Quiñenco Station Colonel

Intermodality

The aforementioned intermodal stations (EIM) had, in principle, the characteristics of having closed personal parking spaces (lockers) for bicycles for those who arrive by bike paths (except El Arenal) to take the Biotrén, a characteristic that today Today it owns the majority of Line 2 stations. The EIMs currently have a synchronization service for integration buses or approach minibuses called Biobús. The Concepción and Coronel stations are the only intermodal stations in the entire network of stations. Currently, the Biobuses integrative bus service is in operation only from the EIM Concepción, with the routes:

• (Ida): EIM Concepción, Av. Father Alberto Hurtado, José de San Martín, Av. Paicaví, Av. Jorge Alessandri, University of the Americas, Rotonda Airport, Clínica BioBío, Mall Plaza Trébol, Casino Marina del Sol, Brisas del Sol.
• (back): Brisas del Sol, Casino Marina del Sol, Av. Jorge Alessandri, Av. Paicaví, Av. Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, Av. Father Alberto Hurtado, EIM Concepción.

The Biotrén works exclusively through a rechargeable card, which is also used for trips integrated with the Biobús service (through the purchase of Integrator Tickets at stations). Trip prices are deferred depending on the length of the trip. There are also special values for students, seniors and agreements.

Service expansion projects

Showing translation for

Extensión de la Línea 2 del Biotrén a Lota

In 2016, a pre-feasibility study was developed for the extension of the service to Lota. By June 2018, the feasibility study was completed, obtaining an approving result. The then Undersecretary of Transportation pointed out that the study considers the extension of the line by 10 km and the addition of stations in Playa Blanca and another in Lota, which have a high feasibility in terms of social profitability.

On January 10, 2023, the government confirmed that it was preparing the application of the project to extend Line 2 to Lota to the design stage during 2023 and the subsequent entry into the Environmental Assessment System. In this same year, He noted that the extension would have five new stations: Coronel Sur, Playa Blanca, Cousiño, Chiflón and Lota. Playa Blanca would continue studying.

Line 3 of the Biotrén

Although the road that is currently used for cargo already existed, the decision to create a passenger transport service that extends from the center of Concepción to the commune of Penco and Lirquén implies the authorization of 16 kilometers of road for the flow of electric trains, and the construction of at least four new stations. Even though there is a unilateral agreement for the construction of this new service, there is the question of whether a second dedicated track will be built for the service, which would increase the cost of construction, since it would involve building a second railway bridge over the Andalién River.. It is expected that the extension of this service will be ready in 2026. The idea has been that this service would even reach Tomé, as part of a possible future scenario in which a faster service is built between Santiago and Concepción, using the old Rucapequén-Concepción branch.

In May 2022 it was noted that at the end of the first half of that same year there would be an answer to whether the project has social profitability. During July of the same year, the councilors of the communes have publicly pressured to carry out the project. extension, including the extension to Tomé. One of the biggest limitations for this project is the political commitment, the result of the social evaluation of the project and the "La Cata trail" that is currently used for hiking and cycling and that It was originally the embankment of the Rucapequén-Concepción branch, where the width does not accommodate both a railway and the trail.

Concepción Metro

Although there is already an interest of a long time to build a subway service in the city of Concepción, since 2019 there has been a social movement and public organizations that seek to be built a meter in the center of Concepción. It is sought that the terminal station of this proposed service is an intermodal station with the Concepción Railroad Station.