Santiago–Valparaíso railway line

The existing rail line between Santiago and Valparaíso was opened in 1863, and is 187 km (116 mi) long, single-track and designed to avoid steep gradients through mountainous terrain.

[1] Proposals have existed since the 1990s to build a more direct line between the two cities for passengers and freight.

A study commissioned by EFE in 2016 outlined three different potential routes for a new Santiago–Valparaíso line, using the Chilean rail network's existing Indian gauge, and cost between US$4–5 billion.

[2] In 2018, a proposal was submitted by the Tren Valparaíso Santiago consortium of local firm Sigdo Koppers and China Railway Engineering Corporation.

The US$2.5 billion plan consisted of a 127 km (79 mi) line with four stations to be designed for passenger trains to run at up to 220 km/h (140 mph), offering an end-to-end journey time of 45 min, around half the time currently taken by road.