THE “BASIC NETWORK OF MASSIVE TRANSPORTATION IN LIMA AND CALLAO” CONTINUES TO MAKE HEADWAY. TWO OF THE MOST STANDOUT PROJECTS, DUE TO THEIR TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND THE NUMBER OF USERS TO WHICH THEY WILL SERVE, ARE LINES L3 and L4.
Two of the main cities of Peru, Lima and Callao, have decided to opt for an underground rail link as a public transport system with the aim of improving the quality of communications of its population and seeking out sustainable mobility alternatives. As in most of the large urban centres throughout the world, they have a high level of traffic congestion on the roads, with high indexes of pollution, traffic jams and road saturation.
To all this is added the constant growth of the capital by new zones and districts, which make it even more necessary to provide these areas with effective displacement systems.
Mobility Plans
The metropolitan area of Lima and Callao is located in the centre of the country, facing the Pacific Ocean. Lima, with more than nine million inhabitants, is the political and administrative center; while Callao, 15 kilometres from the capital, is the main seaport of Peru, as well as one of the most important in all of South America. From an economic, social and cultural viewpoint, they constitute a unit, meaning it is considered necessary that any development in terms of mobility be with a joint programme. In this regard, in September 2018, Congress approved the creation of the “Urban Transportation Authority (ATU) for Lima and Callao”. With this body, the planning, management and implementation powers of the actions for both cities are unified in the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Its main aim is to build an integrated transport service that would allow for the unifying of routes, road infrastructure and tariffs. Furthermore, within this authority the managements and offices that administer the Metropolitan, the Lima Metropolitan Railway and the corridor buses are merged. Aside from these recent organisational changes, the work is also focused on the development of a Transportation Master Plan with a view to 2025 by the municipal authorities. A programme that will open up the possibility of planning new centralities around the future mass transit stations, and facilitate the transformation of Lima and Callao into better connected, more livable cities with a modern communications network.
Modernisation of transport
In these advances towards the modernisation of high-capacity urban transport, which increases the use of non-motorised modes, the railway has for years played a significant role.
Given the need to have new means of communication, in December 2010, the “Basic Network of the Lima Metro-Mass Transport Electric System of Lima and Callao” was approved. This system initially had five planned lines; although, three years later, in 2013, an additional branch line (Line 6) was added, which meant that the total planned extension is 165 kilometres. At present, the only operational service is that of L1, which crosses the metropolitan area from south to northeast, on an elevated viaduct, along a 35-kilometre route and 26 stations. In addition, two underground lines are under construction, whose construction tenders were awarded in 2014. It is Line 2, which will cover the metropolitan area from east to west along 27 kilometres of extension, and eight kilometres from what will be the future Line 4, which will run under the Elmer Faucett avenue. The complete route of both lines is planned for 2024.
After the construction of L1 (Villa El Salvador-San Juan de Lurigancho), in April 2011 another step was taken with the signing of the construction tender contract for the provision of rolling stock, the operation and maintenance of this network and the construction of the major workshops. Three years later, in April 2014, the agreement for the construction, provision of units, operation and maintenance of the L2 (Ate-Callao) was signed. This second branch is advancing at a steady pace, as indicated by the Minister of Transport and Communications, Edmer Trujillo, in May 2018, and “the start-up in 2021 of the section between the Municipality of Ate and July 28, where connects with Line 1, with seven stations completed, 10 trains in service and 12 kilometres.”
Additionally, two metropolitan rail lines are under study, which make up the remaining route of Line 4 and the full route of Line 3. The reports of the first (L4) began in February 2015, while those of the second began in September 2014 and were approved by Proinversión in November 2015, while studies for the future Line 4 began in February of 2015.