At 6:30 in the morning, the transfer passage at Saint Miglito Station began to be crowded. This is the only intersection of Line 1 and Line 2, with the financial district and old city to the south and the densely populated eastern new city to the east. Over 400000 daily trips are diverted here. Over the course of twelve years, this network started with the first subway in Central America and grew into a skeleton of 42.1 kilometers, 33 stations, and 47 five car trains. Now, it needs to take another step forward.

Triple tasks in the budget

Recently, the Panama Metro Company submitted a budget proposal for 2027 to the Budget Committee of the National Assembly, with a total amount of 873.8 million US dollars, of which 677.3 million US dollars will be used for project investment and approximately 196 million US dollars will be used for daily operations. The operation part covers train maintenance, station manpower, and energy consumption of the entire line network; The investment part needs to deal with several things at the same time: promoting the preliminary work of Line 2A, purchasing 7 new trains for the existing Line 1 and Line 2, starting the replacement of the escalators that have been running on Line 1 for more than 10 years, continuing to upgrade the ticketing verification and charging system, and completing the financial settlement of the Line 2 construction contract. The monorail of Line 3, which is under construction at the same time, still accounts for the largest share of the investment plate, about 418 million US dollars. Next year, it will usher in two key milestones: the completion of the canal approach tunnel and the online testing of trains. According to official predictions, the total passenger volume of the entire network will reach 132.4 million in 2027, with ticket revenue of approximately 52.6 million US dollars.

Line 2A has changed its endpoint

The most noteworthy change is the 2A line. According to early planning, this extension of Line 2 starts from San Miguel and ends at Uraca Park, with a total length of approximately 8.6 kilometers. After comprehensive comparison and selection of Line 1, Line 2A, and the planned downtown section of Line 5, the endpoint is planned to be changed to Paitilia, with the route increasing to about 9.2 kilometers and the number of stations remaining unchanged. In 2027, the subway company will conduct line research, improve technical solutions, and prepare bidding technical specifications and contract documents. The engineering plan is still being compared between elevated and underground: it is preliminarily considered to enter different line forms from the vicinity of the University Station or the Panama Technical University Station, and cross under the tunnel of Line 1, while connecting to the Carmen Church Station of Line 1 through an underground passage for transfer. The Tongba Muerto Corridor along the route is home to several universities, hospitals, shopping malls, and office buildings, and currently relies almost entirely on buses and cars, which is why the extension line is highly anticipated.keywords:Engineering infrastructure

New Car and Procurement Window

The most anticipated procurement in the expansion project is 7 new trains, which will be used to increase the capacity of Line 1 and Line 2 and alleviate congestion caused by the continuous growth of passenger flow. Due to the fact that Line 2A is an extension of the existing Line 2, the vehicle system, signal system, power supply standards, and maintenance system will all focus on compatibility with Line 2 to improve vehicle allocation and operational maintenance efficiency. As the bidding preparation progresses, the 2A line is expected to generate procurement demands for civil engineering, tracks, vehicles, traction power supply, communication, signaling, automatic ticketing, and station electromechanical equipment. The preparation of new lines, expansion of existing lines, and upgrading of facilities are advancing simultaneously. The demand for vehicles, electromechanical systems, and infrastructure construction in the Panamanian rail transit market will be gradually released, and the specific procurement scope and contract division are still to be confirmed in the formal bidding documents.Editor/Yang Meiling