The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has approved a package of loans for US$750 million for the Lima's second metro line, one of the largest infrastructure projects in Latin America.

The total cost of the project is estimated at over US$5.8 billion. The financial package for the project provided by the IDB will be made up of a US$300 million loan to the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and non-sovereign guaranteed loans to Metro de Lima Línea 2 of up to US$400 million and US$50 million, respectively, from IBD's ordinary capital and the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, administered by the IDB.

Hans Schulz, interim IDB Vice President for the Private Sector and Non-Sovereign Guaranteed Operations, stated:

"Besides being the largest project undertaken by a public-private partnership in the history of Peru, the expansion of the Metro will raise Lima's public transportation to the level required by a modern metropolis."

The Peruvian government and the consortium Nuevo Metro de Lima, formed by Dragados, Iridium, Impregilo, Global Vía, Cosapi and Ansaldo, signed on Monday April 28th the contract for the project. Metro de Madrid advised the winning group for the project.

The concessionaire will be responsible for financing, design, construction, electromechanical equipment, provision of rolling stock, operation and maintenance of the project for a period of 35 years. The scheme involves a 27 km east-west metro line with 27 stations and an 8km airport branch with a further eight stations.

In 2020, when all its phases are in operation, the underground transport system will connect the districts of Lima (Ate, Santa Anita) with the center of Lima and Callao and will join Metro Line 1 (Villa El Salvador - San Juan de Lurigancho) and Metropolitan Line 1 (Chorrillos - Independence) with north-south routes.

The new underground transport system will allow passengers to cross the city from east to west in 45 minutes, as opposed to the more than two hours the trip currently takes by car. It will also significantly reduce the costs of transportation, the number of traffic accidents and emissions of greenhouse gases in the metropolitan area.

The consortium has many references for the project including the subways of New York, Toronto, Panama, London, Copenhagen, Rome, Milan, Buenos Aires, Riyadh and Doha. In Spain, they have built underground railways in Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Bilbao and Valencia.