There is a lot of concern about the panorama that is coming. If only today, transporting more than 600,000 passengers daily between Villa El Salvador (VES) and San Juan de Lurigancho (SJL)Metro line 1 has to face serious problems for its stations and its saturated trains in ‘Punta’ hours; In less than two years, the service will collapse – if no actions are taken – when it is interconnected with four projects related to the Metropolitan, Line 2 and the Lima-Chosic Railway.
Sources close to the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) and the Supervisory Agency for Investment in Public Use Transport Investment (Ositrán) explained to The Republic that time and bureaucracy are the greatest enemies to expedite the only solution that would reduce this serious problem.
It turns out that, in December 2023, the concessionaire Urban Train of Limain charge of Line 1, presented to the MTC a study of preinversion at the profile level for the expansion of the capacity of the service, both of the stations and the trains; However, there are still no short -term responses by the State.
The time factor is the most worrying, sources of Ositrán reported, because the four projects with which line 1 will be ready in 2026 will be expected.
Interconnection with the Metropolitan
For example, two of the projects have a direct link with the Metropolitan: the new express route Grau and the South Express. These works will facilitate that the buses of the Metropolitan Transport passengers to the Grau and Atocongo stations of Line 1, located in the Cercado de Lima and San Juan de Miraflores, respectively.
In the case of the Express Graualthough there is still no technical file, the Almirante consortium began to execute the first works of this project that will interconnect the metropolitan with line 1 of the Metro, through a transfer station at the crossroads of the Grau and Nicolás Ayllón avenues.
From the municipality of Lima, the president of the Municipal Company for Support for Strategic Projects (EMAPE), Mario Casaretto, said they hope the works are completed In December 2025; although most likely they extend until the beginning of 2026.
The New Express Grau It will be a high capacity of 2.8 kilometers of extension that will have two first leg and two back, with the metropolitan in the central berm.
But it will not be the only one that will be interconnected with line 1. Express South It will be a 5 -kilometer corridor that will achieve the extension of the Way of the Paseo de la República, from AV. Republic of Panama to the Panamericana Sur. The important thing about the project is that it will have two central and exclusive lanes for the Metropolitan buses, between The Plaza de Flores Station (Barranco) and the Atocongo Station of Line 1.
Express Grau will feed passengers to line 1.
At the moment, since January, the Consortium Express route It has been responsible for the elaboration of the technical file and, according to Mayor Rafael López Aliaga, it is estimated that the project is completed at the end of 2025; although this is more likely to happen in 2026.
Interconnection with line 2 and railway
The other two projects that can collapse the Metro line 1 They are line 2 and the Lima-Chosic railroad, if no actions are taken.
In the case of Line 2, the MTC estimates that the ATA-PLAZA BOLOGNESI section would begin operating at the end of 2026. The doubt is that if it will be with the New Station July 28 of line 1 or not.
Currently, there is a controversy because the MTC does not yet decide which of the two concessionaires (of line 1 or line 2) will execute the works of the new station. This is important because it will serve for the interconnection of both subway lines and must be ready, in a mandatory way, if they expect the Ate-Plaza Bolognesi section begins to work.
The engineer Miguel González, head of Railway Contracts of the Ositrán, indicated that most likely, to authorize said section, the MTC and the concessionaire, they must sign an act of agreement to suspend the obligation. If so, the passengers would go down at the 28 de Julio Station of Line 2 and walk a few blocks towards The Gamarra Station of Line 1.
In all forecasts, line 1 will support an important income of new users. The same will happen when the Lima-Chosic Railroadwhose “donated” trains by the American company Caltrain will arrive in Lima in the coming months. According to the municipality of Lima, it is estimated that these are operational at the end of 2026 to feed line 1, near the master presbyter station.
Difficult panorama in sight
As could be detailed, these new interconnections with the Metropolitan, Line 2 and the Lima-Chosic Railway is what worries.
According to sources from the Urban Train company of Lima, line 1 concessionairewith the extension project, the demand for daily passengers could be increased, from 600,000 to 900,000, and reduce the frequency of trains of three to two minutes.
In the study, the purchase of 31 new trains and the modernization of the existing 39. In addition, the renewal of the electromechanical equipment, the expansion of one of the 26 stations, of the VES and SJL terminals; as well as the repowering of the electrical part and the update of the passenger control system (turniquetes, validators and collection machines).
Against the clock
They also pointed out that in October 2024 the concessionaire presented the profile of the extension project and lifted the observations issued by the MTC. It is now expected that the Urban Transport Authority (ATU) will hire a consultant who can declare it viable no later than the second half of the year Or, in any case, delegate the competences of the formulation of this work to proinversion. Meanwhile, this newspaper knew that the MTC has been evaluating whether this expansion of line 1 It is specified by means of an addendum or a new concession contractbecause the project would cost 2.6 billion dollars.
According to sources from the concessionaire, of that amount, 60% would be for works and 40% for the purchase of trains. The Urban Train Company of Lima is willing to put much of the investment so that it does not take longer.
In dialogue with The Republicthe president of the ATU, David Hernández, acknowledged this risk and pointed out that the expansion of line 1 is being one of the priorities of his management. He added that The project has been referred to pro -investment two months ago for its viability. “The reduction in the frequency of trains, from three to two minutes, will be progressively, due to deadlines, and would begin to be seen in 2028 and 2029,” he said.
Hernández considered that the interconnection projects will not collapse so much to line 1. “We are not using all the additional races of Line 1, we can expand them and see how much we can arrive. That is why we are hurrying the extension (…) (And on the express way Grau), I don’t think many users add, remember that Metropolitan users go down today at the central station, get on a micro and reach the Grau station of Line 1. Some problem could be with interconnection with line 2, but we are working”, He said. Thus, the actions are expected to be completed as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, the works of Line 2 continue.
A single card for these services
In the third quarter of this year the tariff integrated in the Mass public transport service of Lima y Callaowhich means that users can travel with a single card and making a single payment in the metropolitan, the subway lines, the corridors and, even, in some conventional transport companies.
José Carlos Soldevilla, head of the Directorate of Urban Transport Integration and ATU collection, stressed that at level 4 of collection (Integrated Service)a passenger could go from one service to the other without having to make several payments And without the need to make different queues, as is currently.
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