On March 26 local time, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Alameda - Melipilla Rail Depot Project in Chile, co-constructed by China Railway Seventh Group. Attendees included Chilean Minister of Transport and Telecommunications Juan Carlos Mu?oz, President of Chilean National Railway Company (EFE) Eric Martin González, and Mayor of Pe?aflor Rodrigo Cornejo. Several major Chilean media outlets covered the event on site.
The Alameda - Melipilla Rail Depot Project covers an area of 17.83 hectares with a construction area of about 22,000 square meters and a total investment of USD 90 million. It will provide comprehensive train maintenance to ensure reliability, maintainability, availability, and safety, as well as servicing signal, track, and overhead line systems. Completion is expected by the end of 2026.
The Alameda - Melipilla Rail Depot will be the largest and most modern workshop operated by EFE and a world-class maintenance center. It will also be the only EFE facility equipped with an automatic train washing system.
The depot will use the same signaling and dispatching standards as the mainline services. All train movements will be monitored in real time by an operations control center, with train positions visible and collision prevention systems in place, making it one of the most advanced rail safety and efficiency systems in South America.
