Metros and light rail Panama City’s first metr
Central America’s first metro line is nearing completion in Panama City. David Briginshaw explains the complexities of building a metro in a country where engineering expertise and resources are in short supply.
OVEMBER 14 marked an important milestone in the construction of the first metro line in Panama City as Panama’s president Mr Ricardo Martinelli was able to travel the full length of the initial 13.7km section of Line 1 during a trial run. President Martinelli was joined by the executive secretary of the metro, Mr Roberto Roy, members of the cabinet and executives from the FCC-Odebrecht consortium constructing the metro which expects to open the first phase in March. Construction of the Panama metro
N President Martinelli at the controls during a test run on November 14.
got off to a quick start in November 2010 and exactly three years later it was 94% complete. Work is currently focused on testing and commissioning of the trains and installations and finishing works at stations. Trial automatic operation was due to start last month, with trains controlled from the operations centre at the stabling yards and workshops at Albrook. The last of the 19 three-car Metropolis trains being built by Alstom at its Santa Perpetua plant in Spain is expected to arrive in Panama City this month. Each train can accommodate up to 600 passengers, and services will operate at 3.5-minute headways initially, which will enable the metro carry up to 15,000 passengers/hour/direction during peak periods. But by running five-car trains at 1.5-minute headways it will be possible to ramp up capacity to 40,000 passengers/hour/direction in the future.
Alstom is responsible for engineering, integration and commissioning of the electromechanical works for the project. In addition to supplying the rolling stock, Alstom is installing traction substations and its Urbalis communications-based train control (CBTC) system. The Panama Metro Secretariat (SMP),
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which is the contracting authority for the project, confirmed on November 27 that the cost of building the initial 13.7km line from Albrook to Los Andes with 12 stations and 19 trains has been held at the $US 1.88bn price agreed in 2011.
However, the project has since been expanded to include an additional intermediate station at El Ingenio, extra access points at stations, a 2.1km extension from Los Andes north to San
Panama City N
0 km 2 San Isidro Los Andes El Crisol
San Miguelito Usma
El Dorado Cervecaria Nacional Albrook May 5 to Chorrera Casco Antigua
Iglesia del Carmen Miramar
El Ingenio Rio Abajo Fernandez de Cordoba Pacific Ocean IRJ
Metro line being commissioned Metro line under construction Planned metro lines Proposed tram line
Proposed commuter rail line IRJ January 2014 Olympic Garden Pedregal Ranade Oro Tocumen
Isidro, and an additional train. This means the total cost of the metro is now just over $US 2bn. The civil works for the extension started in September 2013 and are expected to be completed in August with final completion scheduled for the end of the year.
Not only was it a challenge to build the initial section of the metro within 36 months, but the task was made even more challenging because Panama lacks the local engineering expertise which
La Doña
Panama Canal
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