Engineers predict $194 million annual bill for subway

AS NAMES go up on Panamas new Metro subway stations and selected audiences are taken for a test ride, while speculation continues on what the fares will be, a sobering report on running costs was published Thursday, March 27.

The Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA) estimates that the total cost of operations and financing of the Panama Metro will cost more than $194 million annually.

That figure, calculated by the SPIA road commission includes some “basics” from the Secretariat of the Panama Metro (SMP) which say that the system will need $56 million for operations, maintenance and security, and $138 to cover the financing.
Technical analysis is made based on the performance of other Metro systems of countries like Dominican Republic , Mexico , Spain , Medellin, Colombia , and others, reports La Prensa
Nicolas Real, president of the road commission of SPIA, said that Panama has already paid more than other countries. He cites, for example, the trains which are the same type as the Santo Domingo Metro. There they spent $ 2.1 million per car, while here the amount per car was $ 4.6 million.
The secretary of Panama Metro, Roberto Roy, lamented that the organization did not consult with the main source is the SMP, or use other official information from multilateral banks.
He said the cost of operating the Panama Metro will be $ 52 million and that 50 % will be covered by fares.