PANAMA Metro reports that civil works are now 50% complete on Line 3, the 25km monorail that will run from Albrook to Ciudad del Futuro, with a 6km tunnel section under the Panama Canal.

During a recent visit to the 5ha tunnelling work site at Farfán by the president of Panama, Mr Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, Panama Metro director general, Mr Héctor Ortega, reported that current work is focused on the elevated section from Vista Alegre to the rolling stock depot at Ciudad del Futuro, where the first operating trials will take place.

Work on the depot complex and its office building is now 65% complete. The Ciudad del Futuro site will maintain the fleet of 26 six-car monorail trains that is being supplied by Hitachi, Hitachi Rail STS and Mitsubishi. The first train arrived in Panama in January.

The Japanese consortium was awarded a $US 883m contract in October 2020, that also includes the supply of electrification, signalling and telecommunications and train control systems for Line 3.

Ortega also reported that all stations on Line 3 are now under construction, with work most advanced at Ciudad del Futuro, which is now 47% complete.

The elevated monorail guideway is 90% complete, following the installation of 950 concrete beams at a maximum height of 31.6m above ground level.

Construction of the tunnel section is proceeding on schedule, according to Panama Metro, with assembly of the 93m-long tunnel boring machine (TBM) underway at Farfán following its delivery by a German supplier.

Upon completion, the cutting head of the 13.5m diameter TBM will be lowered into place using a 1000-tonne crane. Work on the TBM launch chamber is now 70% complete.

The work site at Farfán will also contain treatment plants for tunnelling spoil and water, as well as storage areas for prefabricated tunnel lining segments and an electricity substation.

There are currently 25 active work sites in total on Line 3, with construction underway 24 hours a day..

Line 3 is expected to carry 160,000 passengers a day. It will offer an end-to-end journey time of 45 minutes from Albrook to Ciudad del Futuro via Panamá Pacífico at the western end of the tunnel section beneath the Panama Canal.