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Panama Metro
Rapid transit system in Panama City, Panama From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Panama Metro (Spanish: Metro de Panamá) is a rapid transit system serving Panama City, Panama.[4] Developed to ease traffic congestion between the city and the San Miguelito District and to provide an alternative to road transport, the metro supplements the MiBus network and operates daily throughout the year.[5][6]
Line 1 opened on April 6, 2014 and currently spans 18.1 kilometres (11.2 mi) with 15 stations. Line 2 followed in 2019, temporarily opening for World Youth Day in late January and later entering regular service on April 25 of that year. It extends 24 kilometres (15 mi) with 19 stations, including a branch to Tocumen International Airport that opened in 2023.[7][8] The San Miguelito station serves as the interchange between the two lines.[9]
The metro is part of a broader National Master Plan to improve transportation around Panama City, which includes the construction of two additional rapid transit lines, two monorail lines, three tram lines, and an aerial lift line.[10]
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History
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Line 1
Development
The government of Panama invited tenders for a contract to build the metro system.[11] The governments of Brazil[12] and Taiwan[13] offered to invest on the project. After an exhaustive inspection of all proposals for the construction of the railway system, the Línea Uno consortium, which includes the Spanish Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), won the contract.[14]
In October 2009, the POYRY/Cal y Mayor y Asociados consortium won the contract for counseling the project development,[15] and in January 2010, Systra was awarded a contract to create detailed infrastructure designs.
The first phase of the project consisted of planning, cost estimation, and technical feasibility. The second phase consisted of several soil studies, topography, and demand refinings. Both phases were started and executed simultaneously in late 2009.
Construction
In December 2010, the government finally awarded the tender for the construction of the subway. The third and the fourth phases of the project took place between 2011 and 2012 and consisted of the construction of all viaducts and stations and the relocation of the public utilities. The control center that supervises the whole metro operations and the Automatic Train Supervision was provided by Thales, along with the network infrastructure and communication and security solutions including CCTV, telephony, intercom, TETRA radio, visual and audio information to passengers, and fire detection.
By September 2013, construction of Line 1 was 92% complete, which allowed a test run with some of the rolling stock.[16]
Cost
The construction of Line 1 cost $1.452 billion. The authority in charge of the planning, construction, and execution of the project had a budget of $200 million for the year 2012.[citation needed] In December 2011, the Secretaría del Metro de Panamá clarified that the updated cost of the project is US$1.880 billion, including public utilities relocations and engineering and project management costs.[17] The final cost for Line 1, including its extension to Villa Zaita was approximately US$2.2 billion.[18]
Early operations
On April 5, 2014, Line 1 was opened, and the first public passenger trips on the new system were carried out. The next day, the line entered active passenger revenue service.[19] In its first year of operations, the system carried 200,000 people per day on average, 25% more than had been expected.[20]
The initial segment of Panama Metro's Line 1 ran over a mostly north–south route, from Los Andes to the Albrook bus station (where the system's maintenance shop is located), and extended over 13.7 kilometres (8.5 mi) of route, including 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) underground and 6.5 kilometres (4.0 mi) elevated.[19] Initially, Line 1 had 11 passenger stations: 5 elevated, 5 underground, and 1 at-grade; 3 more stations were later added. The twelfth station, Lotería, which was the sixth underground station, opened on August 27, 2014.[3] The El Ingenio subway station, located between the underground Fernández de Córdoba station and the first elevated station, 12 de Octubre, was originally scheduled to open in August 2014,[21] but it opened on May 8, 2015.[22]
The original northern terminus station of the metro was Los Andes.[21] However, it was a temporary terminus station since the government had approved an extension of Line 1 to a final elevated station in San Isidro.[23] San Isidro was also originally scheduled to open in August 2014, but it finally opened on August 15, 2015.[24] The extension to San Isidro added 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) of route to the system and extended the metro's total route length to 15.8 kilometres (9.8 mi).[3] The line was extended an additional 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) to the north to a new terminus at Villa Zaita which opened on April 25, 2024, bringing the total line length to 18.1 kilometres (11.2 mi).
Line 2
Development
On May 16, 2014, three different consortiums offered several proposals for the planning, cost estimation, and technical feasibility of Line 2 of the system.[25] After making a detailed inquiry of all proposals, the Metro de Panama secretary announced on July 12, 2014, that the PML2 consortium, which includes the Spanish "Ayesa Ingeniería y Arquitectura", the "Barcelona Metro", and the American "Louis Berger Group," had been awarded the contract.[26][27] The project was to cost $2.200 billion.[28] It ended up costing only $1.857 billion.[29]
The construction contract was awarded to Linea 2 Consortium, formed by Odebrecht from Brazil and FCC from Spain, the same consortium that built Line 1 of the Panama Metro. Construction officially started in September 2015.[30] Originally, Line 2 had to be delivered in April 2019, but since Panama City was hosting the Catholic World Youth Summit in January 2019, construction was being accelerated, and a new delivery date was announced as December 31, 2018, to serve the one million tourists who were expected to attend the summit.[31] However, in 2018, a month-long labor strike eroded over US$900 million from the annual GDP figure and caused the same amount of losses. That pushed back the delivery date to the original delivery date. However, the first test ran with 12 trains for 8 hours was conducted on December 28, with a partial opening on January 15 with five stations for the summit. The line was then closed again and re-opened on the original date.[32] In August 2018, it was announced that Line 2 would operate partially from Corredor Sur to San Miguelito 24 hours a day during the summit.[33] In January 2019, it was announced that Line 2 would open from January 18 to 28, with five stations operating, including 42 hours of continuous operations on the 26th and the 27th.[34]
Line 2 was formally opened on April 25, 2019.[30]
On March 16, 2023, a branch of Line 2, known as El Ramal, connecting Corredor Sur and Tocumen International Airport, Aeropuerto, was opened.[35] There are no through trains to Aeropuerto, the trains start at Corredor Sur.[36]
The final cost of Line 2, including the branch to Tocumen International Airport, is about US$2.13 billion.[18]
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Operations
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Line 1
Line 1 runs along a primarily north–south route between Villa Zaita and Albrook, which also houses a maintenance facility. The line is 18 kilometres (11 mi) long, including about 7.2 kilometres (4.5 mi) underground.[11] It has 15 stations: 7 elevated, 7 underground, and 1 at-grade, each with platforms approximately 110 metres (360 ft) in length.[37] A complete journey takes about 25 minutes.[citation needed]
The route begins at Villa Zaita, continues on viaduct through San Isidro, Los Andes, and San Miguelito, then transitions to a trench and underground section through central Panama City. The line terminates at Albrook, which connects directly to the city’s main bus terminal and the Albrook Mall.
Line 2
Line 2 follows an east–west alignment from San Miguelito, where it interchanges with Line 1, to Nuevo Tocumen, which includes the line’s maintenance facilities. The main line is approximately 20.4 kilometres (12.7 mi) long and has 18 stations, all elevated. Additional 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) service tracks linking the line to Line 1 at the West end and the yard at the North end. Platforms are the same length as those on Line 1. Line 2 opened on April 25, 2019.[30]
In March 2023, a 2.1 kilometres (1.3 mi) short three-station branch known as El Ramal opened, linking the main route at Corredor Sur station to Tocumen International Airport.
Operating hours
The metro operates daily throughout the year. Trains generally operate from 05:00 to 23:00 on weekdays, from 05:00 to 22:00 on Saturdays and from 07:00 to 22:00 on Sundays and public holidays.[5]
Rolling stock
Alstom has delivered 19 three-car Metropolis trainsets for the metro.[38] The trains are similar to the Barcelona Metro 9000 Series and were built at Alstom’s factory in Spain, with testing carried out on the FGC network in Barcelona. The first three units arrived in Panama on May 25, 2013.
The standard-gauge trainsets feature air-conditioning, on-board CCTV, passenger information systems, and a capacity of about 600 passengers.[39] While the initial fleet was made up of three-car sets, all stations were designed to handle five-car formations. Since February 2018, some trains have entered service with five cars.[40]
Trains draw 1,500 V DC power from a rigid overhead conductor rail via pantograph, while substations are supplied with 13.8 kV AC at 60 Hz.[41]
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Planned expansion
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The Panama Metro system is eventually planned to expand to a ten-line network by 2035–2040.[42] The plan envisions four rapid transit lines, three tram lines, two monorail lines in Panama Pacifico, and an aerial lift line in the San Miguelito District.[42][43][44] Current projects focus on extensions of Lines 1 and 2, the construction of Line 3 across the Panama Canal, and preparatory studies for additional lines.
Line 1
Line 1 is nearly complete in its current form. An infill station at Curundú, near the southern end of the line, was part of the original plans but had not been built as of March 2025. A further extension to La Cabima was studied but ruled out by metro officials in 2025.[45]
Line 2
Line 2 is planned to extend westward from San Miguelito station primarily along Via Ricardo J. Alfaro (Tumba Muerto), where at some point the elevated section goes underground, terminating in Paitilla, in southern Panama City and near the Cinta Costera. This segment, known as Line 2A, would add 9.2 kilometres (5.7 mi), 11 stations, and a second interchange with Line 1 at Iglesia del Carmen station. Because of tunneling costs, the extension is projected to be as expensive as the entire existing line.[46] A one-station extension eastward from Nuevo Tocumen to Felipillo is also planned.[42] In addition, a branch line has been proposed from Condado del Rey along the Vía Centenario to MERCA Panamá.[47]
Line 3 (monorail)
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Line 3 is under construction as a 24.5-kilometre (15.2 mi) monorail linking Ciudad del Futuro in the Arraiján District with Albrook station in Panama City, where it will connect to Line 1.[48] The first phase is planned with 11 stations and is expected cut average travel times between West Panama and Panama City from 90 to 37 minutes, by bypassing congestion on the Bridge of the Americas.[49]
Originally, the government planned for the monorail beamway to cross the Panama Canal via the proposed "Fourth Bridge", but in March 2020 the administration of then-president Laurentino Cortizo decided that Line 3 would not use the bridge, as there was no guarantee that its construction would begin soon due to a lack of financing.[18] The decision led to the redesign of the project to include a new tunnel beneath the canal, measuring about 4.5 kilometres (2.8 mi) in length and 13.5 metres (44 ft) in diameter, reaching depths of 65 meters (213 ft) below sea level at its deepest point.[50][51] In other sections, the line will run elevated above ground.
The change to a stand-alone tunnel crossing contributed to a sharp rise in costs, from the initial US$2.6 billion estimate to more than US$4 billion. Additional cost increases were attributed to nationwide protests in 2023 involving much of the project’s union labor, delays to a nearby highway project that impacted construction, and higher materials costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In an effort to contain costs, two planned stations were removed (though they may be added in the future), landscaping and architectural finishes were reduced, and the train fleet was decreased from 28 to 26 six-car trains. While the final cost of Line 3 remains undetermined, it is expected to significantly exceed the cost of the first two metro lines.[18]
The project is financed through loans from the Japanese government[52] via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Construction is being carried out by the HPH Consortium comprising three Korean companies: Hyundai Engineering & Construction, Posco Engineering & Construction, and Hyundai Engineering. Japan's Hitachi Rail has supplied the six-car Hitachi Monorail trains.[53] The HPH Consortium hired the China Railway Tunnel Group to oversee construction of the underwater crossing.[54]
Construction began in February 2021.[55] The line is planned to open in two phases, with the segment between Ciudad del Futuro and Panamá Pacífico scheduled for April 2027, and the section beneath the Panama Canal to Albrook planned for October 2028.[56]
By July 2025, overall construction was 78.8% complete, with the underground section 32% finished, and the final trainset delivered from Japan the same month.[57]
A second phase is planned to extend the line to La Chorrera, supported by an additional US$697 million loan approved by the Japanese government for project development.[48]
Lines 4 and 5 (rapid transit)
Lines 4 and 5 are planned rapid transit expansions that will use trains similar to those on Lines 1 and 2, with both lines scheduled to open by 2040.[42]
Line 4 would begin at a planned infill station in Curundú on Line 1. Early plans envision a route that would follow Avenida Nacional, Avenida Transístmica and Avenida España, intersecting Line 1 again at Fernández de Córdoba station, then continuing through Pueblo Nuevo and Río Abajo along Avenida José Agustín Arango. It would connect with Line 5 near the Ciudad Deportiva area before serving southern Juan Díaz and terminating at Don Bosco Tocumen in Tocumen.[58]
Line 5 is a proposed underground line serving Panama City’s financial district, designed to relieve congestion in one of the busiest commercial corridors. Early plans envision a route that would begin at Santo Tomás station on Line 1 and run along Calle 50 through Parque Urraca, Bella Vista, San Francisco and Parque Lefevre, continuing to Costa del Este and Santa María before ending at El Crisol station on Line 2.[58]
Lines 6, 7, and 8 (tram)
Lines 6, 7, and 8 are planned tram services designed to cover medium-demand corridors not served by the metro.[42]
Line 6 will run between Merca Panamá and Curundú, where a new infill station on Line 1 is proposed.
Line 7 will be tourist-oriented running from Curundú to the Casco Antiguo district.
Line 8 will connect eastern Panama City between Villa Zaita (transfer to Line 1), Villa María (transfer to the Metrocable), Don Bosco (transfer to Line 2), and Don Bosco Tocumen (transfer to Line 4).
Line 9 (monorail)
Line 9 is a proposed monorail that would run between Ciudad del Futuro (transfer to Line 3) and the Centennial Bridge, serving Vacamonte, Veracruz and Panamá Pacífico International Airport.[59]
Metrocable (aerial lift)
The Metrocable, also known as the San Miguelito Cable Car, is a planned aerial lift system that will run north-south through the San Miguelito District, from Torrijos Carter to El Balboa, with a connection to Line 2 at the Cincuentenario station. It will be 6.6 kilometres (4.1 mi) long, six stations, and have a capacity to carry up to 3,600 passengers per hour. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2028, with an estimated completion time of 24 months after the contract is awarded. The bidding process began on March 10, 2025.
The Master Plan proposes extending the route to the Villa María station of the future Line 8 in the north, and includes two additional proposed branches connecting to San Isidro and Los Andes stations on Line 1.
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See also
- List of metro systems
- List of North American rapid transit systems by ridership
- List of Latin American rail transit systems by ridership
- Odebrecht Case – Corruption investigation in Latin America
References
External links
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