Driver training for new Metro buses begins in November

The first five vehicles of Panama’s new Metro Bus system will arrive in November for the start of driver training.

The first buses will begin operation in December in the South Corridor and will be the beginning of the end of the often fatal chariot races of the infamous diablos rojos as they compete for passengers.

The announcement came from Minister of the Presidency, Jimmy Papadimitriu, on Telemetro Report.

The South Corridor buses will operate shortly before Christmas and the North Corridor fleet will be brought into service in January.

But the 'red devils' will not be totally replaced until July of 2011.
The new buses will seat 35 passengers and allow a similar number to stand.
The government presented the first bus of the new mass transit system on Saturday October 23, during the commemoration of the tragedy of 8B-06 in La Cresta four years ago when 18 people were incinerated and more badly burned.

The courts ruled that the government was not responsible for compensation. The driver and an owner were jailed for four years.