Panama, Japan close US$840mn metro deal

Panama City's metro operator Metro de Panamá signed an US$840mn agreement Thursday with three Japanese companies for the purchase of rail cars and equipment for future line No.3 of the local metro system.

The agreement is based on a US$2.6bn financing deal for the construction of the line that Panama closed with Japan's international cooperation agency JICA in 2016. The terms of the deal demand a subcontractor providing Japanese railway technology be selected.

Japanese companies Hitachi, Mitsubishi Corp, and Italy-based Ansaldo were the firms chosen to design, manufacture, supply, install, and operate the integrated operating system of the line's monorail technology.

The companies will assume the subcontractor rule once a contract for the construction of the line's civil works has been awarded.

The line will be around 34km, with construction carried out in two phases.

In the first phase, the east-west monorail line will extend 26.8km. It will connect Albrook station on line No. 1 with the Ciudad del Futuro area in the Arraiján district of Panama Oeste province, west of the canal.

The line is set to have 14 stations and will run parallel to the Pan American highway, crossing the Panama Canal on the US$1bn fourth bridge that is about to be built.

Construction works are expected to last four to five years, depending on the progress of the construction of the bridge, which will be carried out simultaneously.

The new line will initially have capacity to transport 20,000 people during peak times, and will be served by 28 trains, with every train to have six cars and a capacity of 960 passengers.

Tender documents for the contract to build the line are expected to be unveiled at the end of September. Seven companies have already pre-qualified to participate in the process.

PICTURED: President Juan Carlos Varela flanked by government officials and representatives of two Japanese and an Italian firm attend a ceremony for the signing of the agreement.