Line 5 was opened to the public on April 5, 1997 by President Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle at Bellavista de La Florida station.^[1] 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,^[2] 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 edit

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 edit

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.^[3]

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 edit

On November 9, 2020. NS-2016 cars began operations on this line, which will replace NS74 cars.

The skip-stop express service^{[4][dead link]} works during peak hours and allows trains to stop at alternate stations, reducing the number of stops and the duration of journeys. The stations on the line are divided into “green route” stations, “red route” stations and “common” stations (Spanish: estación común), where all trains stop and allow passengers to switch between red and green routes. The express service works from Monday to Friday, between 6am - 9am and 6pm - 9pm.

Red Route Stations edit

• Santiago Bueras
• Monte Tabor
• Barrancas
• Blanqueado
• Quinta Normal
• Parque Bustamante
• Rodrigo de Araya
• Camino Agrícola
• Mirador

Green Route Stations edit

• Del Sol
• Las Parcelas
• Lo Prado
• Gruta de Lourdes
• Cumming
• Santa Isabel
• Carlos Valdovinos
• Pedrero

Common Stations edit

There are 13 stations where both red and green route trains stop. They are the busiest stations and give commuters the chance to change between routes.

• Plaza de Maipú
• Laguna Sur
• Pudahuel
• San Pablo  
• Santa Ana  
• Plaza de Armas  
• Bellas Artes
• Baquedano    
• Irarrázaval  
• Ñuble  
• San Joaquín
• Bellavista de La Florida
• Vicente Valdés  

Line 5 stations from west to east are:

• Communes:
  • Maipú
  • Pudahuel
  • Lo Prado
  • Quinta Normal
  • Santiago
  • Providencia
  • Ñuñoa
  • Macul
  • San Joaquín
  • La Florida
• Track:
  • Vicuña Mackenna Avenue: 9 stations
  • General Bustamante Avenue: 4 stations
  • Monjitas Street: 1 station
  • Catedral Street: 4 stations
  • San Pablo Road: 5 stations
  • Teniente Cruz Avenue: 2 stations
  • Los Pajaritos Avenue: 5 stations
• Construction Method:
  • Plaza de Maipú station - Del Sol station: Underground
  • Monte Tabor station - Laguna Sur station: Viaduct
  • Barrancas station - Irarrázaval: Underground
  • Ñuble station - Mirador station: Viaduct
  • Bellavista de La Florida station - Vicente Valdés station: Underground
• Opening Dates:
  • Bellavista de La Florida metro station – Baquedano: April 1997
  • Baquedano station – Santa Ana station: March 2000
  • Santa Ana station – Quinta Normal station: March 2004
  • Vicente Valdés metro station – Bellavista de La Florida metro station: November 2005
  • Quinta Normal metro station – Pudahuel station: January 2010
  • Pudahuel station – Plaza de Maipú station: February 2011

• List of metro systems
• Rail transport in Chile
• Transantiago
• Rubber-tyred metro

• (in Spanish) Metro S.A.
• (in English) UrbanRail.net/Santiago
• (in Spanish and Russian) Santiago Metro Map
• (in Spanish) Tarjeta Bip! contactless cards
• (in Spanish) Plan and Authority of Transit of Santiago de Chile, Transantiago