Quinta Normal (Santiago Metro station)

Quinta Normal is a station that is part of Line 5 of the Santiago Metro network in Chile. It is built underground, between the Cumming and Gruta de Lourdes stations. It was inaugurated in 2004.

In 2028 it will become the terminal intermodal station of the Santiago-Batuco Train, a railway project of the State Railway Company.

History

Etymological origin

The origin of the name of the station is due to the fact that it is located in the Quinta Normal Park, which is a meeting place in Santiago, which in its history housed the city's first zoo and hosted the International Exposition of 1875.

The name of the park is due to the fact that it resembles a "Quinta", a term that during Spanish colonization was applied to estates that paid a fifth of their income as tribute, and the word "Normal" refers to the School Normal Superior de Paris in France, since it was born as an agricultural teaching and study center.

The name initially proposed for the station was "Matucana", due to the intersection with said avenue, however it was later changed to its current name.

Original design (2004)

The initial projection of the construction of the station, the preliminary project, was between the years 2000-2001, under the firm Gubbins Arquitectos. The station has a style of reinforced concrete, steel, aluminum, and steel and ceramic coatings.

The station completed its works covering an area of approximately 20,500 m² and 27 meters deep on 3 levels; one for passenger entry and stay where the administration rooms, charging stations and cultural halls are located, one level dedicated to the platforms of the metro station and a third level, currently closed, which will be used as a terminal station for the Santiago-Batuco Train service.

The station was built using a large access shaft and three galleries, in order to minimize the open excavation area. Between Quinta Normal and the Cumming station is the so-called Libertad ghost station in Barrio Yungay, which has been closed until the density of the floating population that inhabits the sector increases in the medium term.

First intermodal station proposal (2004-2005)

Between 2004 and 2005, a project was presented to the authorities in which, in a space next to the station, a large intermodal station would be built, which would serve as an exchange area between the Metro, urban and interurban buses, and taxis. and private cars. The project was accepted and the land was delivered for the start of the works. However, the works were paralyzed at the end of 2006, and the land abandoned, which already had part of the work already carried out. They were later reacquired and ended up being the space where the Museum of Memory and Human Rights is located today.

Express route (2010)

In the context of the express route service of the Santiago Metro, as of January 12, 2010, all the stations of the extension to Pudahuel and later to Maipú became common stations. On May 20, 2013, the express operation of line 5 was expanded into 5 stations, for this reason, Gruta de Lourdes and Lo Prado became green, Blanqueado became red while San Pablo and Pudahuel remained as common stations. On September 25, 2017, the Quinta Normal station stopped being a common station and became a Ruta Roja station.

Future

Santiago-Batuco Train

The project for a train that would connect the third subway of the Quinta Normal station with the northern area of the Metropolitan Region was definitively incorporated into the Santiago 2025 Transportation Master Plan.. The proposal was originally known as 'Batuco - Quinta Normal Suburban Train, proposed with a branch to the Cal y Canto station on Line 2 of the Santiago Metro.

In March 2020, the Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Gloria Hutt, announced that the Environmental Impact Study of the Santiago-Batuco Train project had been approved.

In December 2022, the project received a satisfactory recommendation from the Ministry of Social Development, which begins the bidding stage for construction.

MetroArte

Quinta Normal has the work Verbo América by Roberto Matta installed inside the station. It is built in ceramic palmettes and has a total area of 51 m². It was installed in 2008 after being exhibited in different places in Santiago, as one of the conditions that the artist gave when donating his work to the country (it had to be presented in a public place). It was initially exhibited in the Plaza de la Constitución in 1996, and then moved to the National Museum of Fine Arts in the same year. Subsequently, it was transferred again to the Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in 1997, where it was removed in 2003 to be restored. Finally, Verbo América reached its final destination in 2008, where it remains to this day. It is located in the western sector of the station.

Además de Verbo América, la estación cuenta con dos intervenciones adicionales.

The first is titled Seeds of the Revolution and was made by Nelson Rivas. This mural shows two students in front of an inverted landscape. Being developed in 2011, it is contemporary with the student demonstrations that occurred in the country during that year, to which the artist expresses an adhesion to them.

The second is titled (((KO))) Ɛ>-<((aQua_esfera))>-<3 and was produced by Yto Aranda. It is made up of 8 hexagonal wooden modules that electronically contain the work inside. The main theme of the intervention is the water cycle, which is also reflected in its title: KO means "water" in Mapudungún, while Ɛ>-<((aQua_esfera))>-<3 refers to the hydrosphere.

Public activity

The Quinta Normal station is one of the largest and most cultural stations in the network, with a mezzanine for activities, the Pablo Neruda Room, inaugurated in July 2004 as an audiovisual space, a gallery for exhibitions and the mural Verbo América by the painter Roberto Matta, administered by the MetroArte Cultural Corporation. There is also a Bibliometro headquarters.

It is located in the Santiago Poniente Culture Circuit, one of the main ones in the capital. In the immediate area, there is the Quinta Normal Park. Outside the park is the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, right in front of the station; the San Juan de Dios Hospital, a few blocks away; the Barros Arana National Boarding School; the Artequin Museum; the Matucana 100 Cultural Center; the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Santiago Library and the Nuestra Señora de Lourdes Sanctuary.

Gallery

• 

  Cenefa currently used in the Andenes.

• 

  Interior of the station

• 

  Station entrance.

• 

  Another view of the Andenes.

• 

  Pablo Neruda Room.

• 

  Mezanine and turnstiles.

Connection with Metropolitan Mobility Network

The station has 6 stops of the Metropolitan Mobility Network in its surroundings, which correspond to:

(*) It only stops from Monday to Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.