New Route to Link Ate-Vitarte Districts with El Callao Province via Downtown Lima
LIMA, September 15th, 2015 – The World Bank Board of Directors approved today US$300 million in financing for the construction of a new line of the Lima Metro that will facilitate mobility for 2.3 million people travelling east to west through the city’s center from the industrial areas to the port of Callao. It is expected that 660,000 passengers will use this new line daily once it is completely operational.
“Line 2 of the Lima Metro constitutes the main Transport-sector project, not only due to the high technology with which it will be implemented but also due to the financial impact on market development that this project’s financing entails and especially due to its impact among the population,” said the Minister of Transportation and Communications, Jose Gallardo. “This project will allow us to significantly reduce travel times, favoring productive activities and reducing vehicle operation costs and accidents. The project provides our population with an integrated, safe, good-quality public transportation system, environmentally friendly, with better treatment of passengers and better access for disabled individuals.”
The financing for the construction of Line 2 intends to mitigate the problems created by uncontrolled growth in the Peruvian capital and its lack of modern mass transit services. Currently, half of the 22.3 million daily commutes between Lima and Callao are undertaken in a traditional public transportation system comprised of low-capacity vehicles that compete for passengers on the streets. There are approximately 31,000 buses, micro-buses and vans, with an average age of 15 to 20 years, which operate in the capital across more than 560 routes lacking dedicated lanes, terminals or adequate stops. These vehicles share the road with a growing number of private vehicles, taxis and moto-taxis.
The current system not only creates traffic congestion in the capital’s main roads, it also results in loss of productivity, especially among the poor, generating high operational costs, pollution and the loss of lives linked to traffic accidents.
“Metro Line 2 will increase job opportunities for the poor,” said Alberto Rodriguez, World Bank Director for Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. “Outlying areas of the capital, those concentrating the poorest population, will be able to travel faster and at lower cost, enabling the daily commute of thousands of people and improving their access to new socio-economic opportunities and better quality of life.”
Metro Line 2 will provide a link that includes 13 districts, reducing the time it takes the average user to complete the same journey by 34 percent. The first phase includes 4.9 km of tracks and five stations and is expected to conclude in less than two years.
The construction of Line 2 falls under the framework of a Peruvian Government plan approved by Supreme Decree in 2010 and calling for the construction of a six-line metro which, alongside the Metropolitano and other mass-transit services, will provide Lima with a complete, integrated, multi-modal transit system.
The US$300 million loan has a six-year implementation period and includes a 15-year maturity period, with a six-year grace period. The World Bank is financing the Metro Line 2 project alongside other International Financial Institutions.
Contacts:
In Lima: Sandra Arzubiaga, +(511) 622-2339, sarzubiaga@worldbank.org
In Washington: Marcela Sanchez-Bender +1(202) 473-5863, msanchezbender@worldbank.org
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