During Alan García’s first term, in which he destroyed the country’s economy and fled to France with untold millions, his Government began a project to build Lima’s first mass transit system. The project failed and $400 million disappeared into an abyss. Now, with only a few kilometres of the electric train system constructed, there is talk of
finishing it.

For a 30 year concession, companies are being ask to bid for the contract to finish the line running from Lima’s south-eastern slums of Villa El Salvador and San Juan de Miraflores, through Surco and San Borja to central Lima. It’s thought daily passenger numbers could be as many as 300,000.

Lima is plagued by transport problems particularly road congestion and deaths from traffic accidents. It also suffers from a pollution problem due to the number of old diesel cars on the road. These problems have existed for a number of years and were the original motivation for the electric train project in the first place.

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Tags: garcia, lima, san borja, san juan de miraflores, surco, train, transport, villa el salvador