|
| Transportation |
| Airport
Chile has two national airlines, both of private owners: LAN-Chile (LA) and Sky Airlines (Sky) and two small air carriers: Nacional and Avant.
Comodoro Arturo Merino Benitez Airport
The airport is 21 km from Santiago (30 min). The bus service towards the city work 24 hs a day. The way back to the airport is from the Los Heroes, Estación Central and Las Rejas or Moneda metropolitan stations. There is also a taxi service.
The Santiago International Airport has international police, migration, customs and other services such as restaurants, bathrooms, travel shops, magazine stands and waiting rooms. For international trips, the traveller must pay an US$ 18 airport tax fee or its equivalent in national currency. This fee is usually included in domestic tickets.
Ap. Arturo Merino Benitez, interior s/n.
Telephone: +56-2-676-3421.
|
Metro
The Santiago Metro is a model of cleanliness and good service. It is a safe, quick and cheap way of travelling. The Metro service is available from 6:30 am to 10 pm from Monday to Saturday and from 8:30 am to 10:30 pm on Sundays and holidays. There are different types of metro tickets, and also different prices.
As of January 2007, the metro uses Transantiago buses and the bip! Metro pass.
Metro pass: $1.100.
Minimum Charge: $800.
The Metro has three lines:
Red Line: Poniente to Oriente, passing through the downtown area (down the B.O’Higgins avenue, Providencia and Apoquindo avenues).
Yellow Line: From Centro to Sur Poniente (down the Gran Avenida).
Green Line: From Centro to Sur Oriente (down the Vicuña Mackenna Avenue).
|
|
Taxi
There are many taxis available at all times; they are black with yellow tops. All of them have a register number and meter. The taxi drivers, in general, are nice and honest. Smoking is not allowed inside public vehicles.
Taxis have meters that start off with $200 pesos for the first 8 blocks, then marks between $70 and $90 every 2 blocks or 60 seconds of waiting. The taxis must indicate on the windshield if 70, 80 or 90 are being charged. Sundays, after 9 pm, there is a 50% surcharge. The fees vary depending on the city (in Viña del Mar the fee doubles Santiago).
|
Trains
The State Train System (Sistema Estatal de Ferrocarriles - EFE) only goes from Santiago to the Southern area of the country, passing through the following cities, among others: Rancagua, Talca, Chillán and Concepción. The trains have different types of wagons for all types of needs, it is a comfortable and affordable way of traveling, but many problems occur that make these trips take longer than normal.
On the other hand, there is a Metro train system that goes from Santiago to Rancagua, stopping at almost every town in between. It is pretty fast and its wagons are like the metro.
|
| Intercity Buses
Chile has approximately 80.000 km great quality highways. The Panamericana crosses the country from North to South (3455 km) from the Peruvian border to Puerto Montt.
The intercity buses are cheap and reliable. There is a luxury service that passes through the whole country, from North to South. Most buses that cover long distances offer different services, such as food and drinks.
|
City Buses
Santiago has two metropolitan lines (a third one is being built), buses, minibuses and “taxibuses” (a shared taxi service with a fixed route). They can be taken directly on the street.
The normal fee for buses is $380. Students and senior citizens (older than 75) pay $110.
|
|
Bus Terminal Stations
Terminal Santiago
Avda. B. O'Higgins 3848, Santiago. Telephone: 376 1755.
Terminal Los Héroes
Tucapel Jiménez 21, Santiago. Telephone: 420 0099.
Terminal Alameda
Avda. B. O'Higgins 3714, Santiago. Telephone: 776 2424.
Terminal San Borja
San Borja 184, Santiago. Telephone: 776-0645.
Terminal Norte
Amunátegui 920, Santiago. Telephone: 671-2141.
|
Sea Transport
The main port is Empremar in Valparaíso and the most important maritime companies are:
Compañía Chilena de Navegación Interoceánica. (CCNI)
Compañía Argentina de Navegación Dodero (CADND) from Buenos Aires.
Compañía Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) from New York and Europa.
Delta Line Cruises from USA through the Panama Canal.
|
|
