Line 5 was opened to the public on April 5, 1997 by President
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle at
Bellavista de La Florida station. It initially ran only between
Bellavista de La Florida station and
Baquedano station and used modern NS-93 trains imported from France. It was particularly welcomed by people living in the southern districts of Santiago and the area around
Vicuña Mackenna Avenue, who saw their commute time to the centre of the city drastically reduced. It was the first train line in Chile to make mass use of elevated
viaducts in its structure, the viaduct carrying the section of track between
Ñuble station and
Mirador station, with the remainder running underground (However it wasn't the first line to incorporate elevated viaducts; that honor belongs to the
line 2, with
Parque O'Higgins metro station being the only elevated station on the aforementioned line, with an elevated viaduct running briefly to the north.) On March 4, 2000, Line 5 was extended to the east from
Baquedano station to
Santa Ana station. This extension included a station at
Plaza de Armas central square, allowing commuters to interchange with
Line 2 (in Santa Ana), reducing travel time between the centre and the east of the city. The line was extended again on March 31, 2004, opening
Quinta Normal station and
Cumming station to the public. Quinta Normal station is one of the biggest on the Metro network, with space for hosting cultural events, and connects to
Quinta Normal Park, where the
Chilean National Museum of Natural History and a branch of the
Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art are located. On November 30, 2005,
Vicente Valdés station was opened at the southern end of Line 5, serving as an interchange point with
Line 4. It also provided a larger hub for the influx of people coming up from Line 4 than
Bellavista de La Florida station. On November 17, 2008, an express service began to run on Line 4 at peak times, stopping at certain stations only to allow for faster journeys. The first section of a new extension to
Pudahuel station in the east of Santiago opened on January 13, 2011, followed by the second part, to
Plaza de Maipú station, in December of the same year. On November 2, 2017,
Line 6 was inaugurated, intersecting line 5 with line 6 at
Ñuble station.
Libertad station Libertad is a
ghost station on Line 5 located between
Quinta Normal station and
Cumming station. The station was never finished and never opened, due to the low density of population living in the area or traveling through it.
October 2019 protests In October 2019, the metro network suffered major damage to its stations because of protests. Nine stations on Line 5 suffered moderate damage (Gruta de Lourdes, Barrancas, Las Parcelas, Pedrero, Cumming, San Joaquín, Pudahuel, Laguna Sur and Del Sol); those stations had fires within the mezzanine area. Due to the lesser amount of damages on Line 5 compared to some areas of the metro network, full service on the line was expected to resume within two months of the end of the protests. Service on Line 5 was partially restored on October 25, 2019, with express service between Quinta Normal and Vicente Valdes. As of September 7, 2020, The line is fully restored.
NS-2016 cars On November 9, 2020. NS-2016 cars began operations on this line, which will replace NS74 cars. == Tren Expreso (Express Service) ==