Panama City to Lose Red Devils, Gain New Metro

By
David Gacs

After winning the election, President Ricardo Martinelli’s stated that one of his aims while in office was “to solve the problems of the people.” One of the problems that needed solving was Panama City’s steadily increasing traffic congestion. The capital, home to just under a quarter of the country’s population and responsible for approximately 55 percent of Panama’s GDP, counts a troop of refurbished U.S. school buses as its main public transport system. However, these picturesque buses, known locally as “red devils,” are being phased out in exchange for a new, modernized fleet called Metrobus

Moreover, on top of this new fleet of buses, the government has a major public transport infrastructure modernization plan on the cards: an electric urban rail project called Panama Metro. The subway, the first of its kind in Central America, is being built by a consortium made up of Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, France’s Alstom, and Spanish firm Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas, and thus far has a price tag of $1.6 billion. Modeled on public transport systems in Chile, Colombia, and Italy, the subway’s first line will span 13.7 kilometers, from the city’s working-class northern districts to the National Transportation Terminal in Albrook, in the capital’s south side. This first line of the project has begun construction and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013. It will have 13 stops, some elevated, some underground, and 40,000 passengers are expected to be carried by the new rail system per hour.

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The new metro, says President Martinelli, will “change the lives of Panamanians who go through hardships, getting up early for a transportation system that really does not work.” A report put together by the UN’s Development Program based on interviews with locals stated that “the shortening of travel times is the principal benefit mentioned by almost half of the interviewees, other benefits mentioned are that the Metro will be a safer transport media, will give better quality of life to the user, will help with rush-hour jams, will bring modernization and development and will improve the country’s image.” Roberto Roy, executive director of the Panama Metro authority, said construction is already at 15 percent completion and was moving along according to plans. It has thus far created 5,000 direct and indirect jobs, and the government has plans for a second line to be added by the end of the administration’s time in office, and eventually a third.

Learn more:

  • See a map of Metro Panama.
  • Visit the Metro Panama website.
  • Watch a video of Roberto Roy outlining construction specifics for Prensa.com.
  • Follow Metro Panama on Twitter.

David Gacs is new media manager at AS/COA Online.