Metro Line 2 construction begins

PRESIDENT Juan Carlos Varela inaugurated the construction of line 2 of the Metro at a ceremony in Tocumen on Monday, October 5  and called on the consortium handling the project t to ensure it is finished by December 2018.

The project will employ 4,000 workers.Varela said that he bidding process was “transparent and competitive.” The construction  will  take an estimated 44 months. It will extend service from San Miguelito to Tocumen.

The amount of the contract is $1.8 billion, plus a financing cost of $205 million.

The project will benefit an estimated 500,000 people in San Miguelito and the eastern part of Panama City. The new line will have 16 stations along 21 kilometers of track.

It will have the capacity to carry an average of 16,000 an  hour and will connect with the line 1 station in San Miguelito.

The work will be done by Consortium line 2, consisting of Brazilian firm Odebrecht and Spanish firm FCC.

During his speech, Varela said  that the tender for the project management of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal that will support the line 3 of the Metro between Albrook and La Chorrera would be issued on October 6