Centreburg Metro

The Centreburg Metro, usually shortened to the Met, is a rapid transit system that is one of the major components of Centreburg's railway network, the other being the Centreburg Commuter Railway Network. It is the country's second-busiest subway system after the Solando Métropolitain, carrying over 1.8 million commuters on a daily basis. Alongside the CCRN, the bus network and the city's ferry system, it is an integral part of the city's public transport system, helping to alleviate congestion and provide a direct link for commuters transiting from the commuter rail network to the city centre.

Opened in 1972 after more than 5 years' of construction work, the network was Corraile's first rail-based transit network to be completely underground, reducing the network's footprint in he crowded city centre, as well as helping to avoid the congestion on the surface that the city's pre-existing tram network had to endure. Today, the system has 87 stations currently in operation and some 100.8 miles (162.3km) of track, and continues to expand with the construction of 3 lines intended the directly connect inner suburban areas to the city centre.

Initial development
The Centreburg Metro began as a concept for the replacement of the Centreburg tram system in the 1960s. As the city centre became increasingly crowded, the streets within the city became increasingly gridlocked as well. Such traffic conditions severely hampered the efficiency of the tram system, for the tram system shared the roads with other road traffic such as private vehicles and buses. In order to combat this problem, the Centreburg Municipal Council (now the Centreburg City Government) decided to pursue the development of an alternative rail-based network with grade separation from other traffic.

In 1965, initial studies began for the creation of a subway system that would encompass 2 lines, criss-crossing the entire downtown region and crossing the Bay of Centreburg to connect both the Westlane and Mainland sections of the city. However, for reasons of cost, this initial proposal was scaled down to the development of just one line, running from Channing Shore at the city's most westerly point and terminating at Beaufort in the eastern reaches of the downtown region. This was due to the fact that at that point in time, the proposed grade-separated rail line was considered merely as an extension of the city's existing tram network, and would not be a completely different network in it's own right. By moving the tram network along this proposed line to a dedicated thoroughfare, it was hoped that it would free up valuable road space that would otherwise have been taken up by the trams. On December 6, 1966, the Municipal Council was satisfied with the proposal and the project was finally given the green light.

Elevated vs. Underground
Although the proposal for the grade-separated "tram extension" was approved, it was unclear in stating whether this grade-separation would be achieved by the construction of an underground or an elevated rail line. In January 1967, at a Municipal Council meeting to discuss funding and development of the new line, there was disagreement between Council members over the nature of the rail line extension, with a significant minority of the Council voting to build the line underground. Then-Mayor of Centreburg and head of the Municipal Council Geoffrey Adkins, supported the development of a subterranean system, arguing:


 * "there simply isn't enough space for the development of an above-ground system here in Centreburg. Any cost-saving that they say would come about from the pursuit of an elevated system would simply disappear from the extra we would have to spend to even acquire the rights-of-way and to ensure that the trains can operate safely in such an urban area at all."

After months of discussion within the Municipal Council and subsequent changes to the finalised proposal, it was finally agreed upon that the new line would be built underground, and separated from the tram system since it was expected that the traffic handled by the line would be far more heavy than the tram system would have been able to handle, even with a dedicated line. This meant that the line was finally recognised as a system independent from the tram system, and was later officially called the Centreburg Metro System.

Construction and inital launch


The permission to begin the construction of the city's then-largest public works project was given in June 1967. A ground-breaking ceremony commenced the construction on 26 August 1967 at Herald Street, near the present day location of Skyline station. The work was expected to be completed by May 1974, and would involve the construction of the 29-km long East-West line, along with it's 14 stations. In 1971, the project fell under the domain of the Government of Corraile, which included it as one of the key projects listed under the Centreburg Plan. This resulted in the release of central Government funds to help complete the project, which meant that work on the project could be completed ahead of time. By December 1972, the line had been completed and was already undergoing test runs, just as the central Government approved the construction of the Trans-bay Line, which was the other line in the original 1966 proposal.

On 1 March 1973, after exhaustive testing of the system, the Metro was opened to the public. The novelty resulted in thousands flocking to the newly-completed line just to experience and try out the system, which ran only initially between Centreburg Central and Beaufort due to technical difficulties at Channing Shore, the original western terminus of the line. In the first week of operations the system drew more than 100,000 commuters, most of which were there to try the system out and not to use it on a regular basis.

Further development
The system continued to expand rapidly after the opening of the first East-West line in 1973. In 1977, the first stage of the Trans-Bay Line, running from Downtown Park North to Waterway Plaza, opened, connecting the system to Westlane and providing an alternative route for commuters crossing the Bay. The opening of the Trans-Bay Line also coincided with the official opening of the line by then-Prime Minister Sir Darren McGhurry, who hailed the system as "a great achievement in the creation of a new, modern Corraile".

In 1981, the opening of the South Bay line, and the extension of the East-West Line to Inner Bay marked the last major expansion of the Metro network for more than a decade.

Privatisation and modern development
Up until 1990, the system was run by the Centreburg Metropolitan Transit Authority (CMTA), which was administered jointly by the Centreburg City Government and the Ministry of Transport in the central Government. In order to further improve the quality of services as well as better serve the needs of commuters, both Governments made plans for the eventual privatisation of the network by means of a tender-based system, where the City Government would maintain ownership of the infrastructure while rolling stock and services would be run by a prvate organisation. Privatisation was announced on March 21 1990, just as plans for three new lines were announced.

The privatisation tenders were held between June 1990 and October 1990, and the results were announced on January 1 the next year, with CMC granted the rights to operate both the East-West Line and the Trans-Bay Line while the South Bay Line would be operated by ConnexCentreburg. The operations of the subway network was handed over to the respective companies on June 11 1991, and the CMTA was formally dissolved that same day.

The three newly announced lines were completed by the end of 1998:


 * The Inner Westlane Line was completed and in service by 16 December 1993
 * The Outer Westlane Line was inaugurated two years later, on 22 January 1995.
 * The most recent completion, the North Bay Line, was opened on 2 June 1998.