Panama Metro Advances 2A Line Tender Preparation and Procurement of 8 New Trains

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, the Panama Metro submitted its 2027 budget proposal to the Budget Committee of the National Assembly, totaling US$873.8 million, of which US$677.3 million is for investment and US$196 million for operations. The 2027 investment priorities include payments for Metro Line 3, the San Miguelito cable car project, preparation for the 2A Line tender, and the procurement of additional trains. Public budget information shows that the Panama Metro plans to procure 8 trains to increase capacity on Line 2, not 7.

The 2A Line is a key project extending the existing Line 2 toward downtown Panama City. The Panama Metro's early master plan set the line's terminus at Urracá Park, with a planned length of approximately 8.6 km; after a comprehensive study of Line 1, the 2A Line, and the downtown section of the planned Line 5, the terminus was adjusted to Paitilla, increasing the early scheme's length to approximately 9.2 km, while the number of stations remained at 12. The line will enter downtown along Ricardo J. Alfaro Avenue and provide an interchange with Line 1 at Iglesia del Carmen Station.

Subsequent feasibility studies further refined the alignment. According to Panama Metro's annual materials, the feasibility study completed in 2021 determined the preliminary alignment of the 2A Line as running from San Miguelito to Paitilla, with a total length of approximately 9.44 km, of which about 0.97 km is elevated, 0.21 km is cut-and-cover, and 8.26 km is underground. The project will focus on addressing rail transit coverage in the Tumba Muerto corridor as well as the university, commercial, and financial districts, and on relieving pressure on the San Miguelito interchange node.

Under the 2027 budget arrangements, the Panama Metro will continue carrying out preliminary studies for the 2A Line and prepare the technical specifications, contracts, and procurement documents required for tendering. The budget explanatory notes published in September have listed "preparing the reference terms for the 2A Line tender" as one of the key investment tasks for 2027; the Panamanian government has previously stated that, after completing financing and technical scheme evaluations, the project may enter the formal tender stage around 2028.

As an extension of the existing Line 2, the subsequent construction of the 2A Line will generate procurement demand for systems including civil works, tunnels, elevated structures, track, traction power supply, communications, signaling, automatic fare collection, station mechanical and electrical systems, and rolling stock. The final proportion of elevated and underground sections, system configuration, contract package division, and equipment procurement quantities will be subject to a new round of technical studies and the formal tender documents.

Meanwhile, the Panama Metro's existing network is facing demand for capacity expansion. The system currently handles more than 400,000 passenger trips per day on average, and is expected to carry approximately 132.4 million passenger trips in 2027. The 8 additional trains in the budget proposal will be used primarily to expand capacity on Line 2 in order to increase transport capacity during peak hours.