The director of Metro Panama, Roberto Roy, announced that the project of Line 2 will require more funds than expected because “it has to be ready by December 31, 2018”, before the World Youth Day 2019 which will be held in Panama.
When works on the second line of metro began in 2015, the actual estimation was that it will be completed in April of 2019.
Later the Panama was selected as the host of Wold Youth Day (WYD), which was officially announced by Pope Francisco past July. “Such unforeseen circumstances require acceleration of the project”, it has to be ready before January of 2019, say the Government officials.
So far the project is 20% completed and there is a lot of work to be done before the announced date. Roy is looking for the way to increase funding and also complete the connection to the airport at the same date with the rest of the line.
The total cost of the second line is $1,8 billion US dollars. Brazil’s Oderbrecht and Spanish FCC is the consortium which is responsible for the project. The line 2 will benefit more than 500,000 living in the easter parts of Panama City.
The new line will have a length of 21 kilometers of elevated track and have 16 stations.
After learning that the World Youth Day would be held in Panama, Juan Carlos Varela President said his country "has the ability" to celebrate and to ensure an "orderly" event with security guarantees for participants.
The new line will be 21 kilometers long , the elevated track will include 16 new stations. The importance of the Line 2 for WYD is obvious - it is expected that during this event some 450,000 will visit Panama.
