CAF, BNDES Approve US$145mn Subway Credit

Multilateral finance institution Corporacion Andina de Fomento (CAF) and Brazil's National Development Bank ( BNDES) approved this week US$145mn in funding for extensions to line 4 of the Cametro subway system in Venezuelan capital Caracas. A total of US$100mn will come from BNDES and US$45mn from CAF, Cametro architect Raimundo Mussa told BNamericas.com. Civil works including stations are estimated to cost US$250-260mn and will be carried out by Brazilian construction company Odebrecht. The cost of equipping the subway, which includes escalators and signaling, is projected at US$80mn, while the cost of trains, electrification and communications is estimated at US$350mn. The overall cost is US$690mn. The works will be financed by government debt under the so-called Umbrella Law. First phase works will extend the line from Capuchinos to Plaza Venezuela. Cametro has expropriated 42% of buildings that will be destroyed to make way for the extension of line 4, Mussa said. So far some 70 residential and 115 office buildings have been expropriated. Four new subway stations will be built - Teatros, Nuevo Circo, Parque Central and Plaza Venezuela. The second phase involves extending the line from Plaza Venezuela to Parque del Este, and linking up with the existing line 1. This phase will also connect with a planned light rail network that will serve southeast Caracas and the suburbs of Baruta, La Trinidad and El Hatillo.