Fifteen years is nothing, but it can be a lot. The lyrics of the tango are ideal for traveling back in time. Specifically, until June 2, 2007. That day opens line 1 of Tenerife tram. It was born between certain controversy due to the supposedly high cost, about 300 million eurosand the rejection by the neighbors along the 21-stop route between Santa Cruz Y The lagoon. Today, in 2022, the light rail has been consolidated and as the insular councilor for Mobility and president of Metrotenerife, Enrique Arriaga, says, “transport in the Metropolitan Area cannot be conceived without its presence.” From today until the end of this month, a photographic exhibition at the entrance of the Santa Cruz Interchange draws the lesser-known face of the road infrastructure: its influence on the profound urban changes developed on the route from the capital of Tenerife to Trinidad Avenue . And return.
The island’s tram network, completed in 2009 with Line 2 (La Cuesta-Tíncer), connected to the main health, educational, administrative and commercial centers of the metropolitan area. In this time it has exceeded the figure of 200 million passengers transported by a staff of about 200 workers, 80 of them drivers.
The hall of the Santa Cruz Interchange hosts the photographic exhibition Yesterday and Today, 15 years connecting. A total of 12 panels will show the transformation that the arrival of the light rail brought to the cities of Santa Cruz and La Laguna, as well as details of the service since its creation. From the new urban landscape to modern underground pipes.
One of the wagons already sports a special sign alluding to the anniversary and the rest of the units in the fleet, a total of 26, will carry a commemorative logo on the front of their cabins until the end of the year. Likewise, stops and advertising supports (mupis) show information alluding to these 15 years of service.
The current tram is heir to the one that circulated around the Island during the first half of the 20th century. It was inaugurated on April 7, 1901, with a layout that began in the Plaza de España in Santa Cruz and ended in Tacoronte. It worked until November 14, 1956.
Work on the light rail began in 2004 and officially ended on June 2, 2007. Fifteen years is nothing.
Nomination for a new award
Metrotenerife is opting for a new international award in the guided transport sector to add to the many awards already received. This is the nomination for the Rail Tech Innovation Awards that recognize innovative solutions applicable to the railway sector. The company from Tenerife participates with its engineering device, a removable insulating jacket for rails on urban light rail lines. Enrique Arriaga, details that “this product is eligible for the award in the Infrastructure section.” The nomination, in full commemoration of the 15th anniversary, he adds, “comes to demonstrate the good work carried out and the innovative and technological character that the Metrotenerife brand projects abroad”. He advances that the delivery will be at the end of this month at the RailTech Europe Fair, to be held in Utrecht (The Netherlands). The device applies since 2016. | jdm
