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In the News from Panama

New Metro Line Opens in Panama City

The second line of the Panama City metro officially opened in April, launching the next phase of the region’s first metro system.

The new 21-kilometer stretch, which will be free until May 12, connects Nuevo Tocumen and San Miguelito and includes 16 stations. The new line will connect in San Miguelito with the first segment of the Metro, which opened in 2014.

The development of the metro is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Central America and represents a big step in Panama City taking its place as a modern global capital. With the economy growing at such a rapid pace and more international companies setting up operations in the city, it is essential to provide an alternative to the car.

The third leg of the metro will cross the Panama Canal and connect Albrook station to Arraijan in West Panama. The Japanese government is funding the project, which will use a state-of-the-art monorail system designed by affiliates of Hitachi and Mitsubishi Corporation.

Future segments are already planned to connect different parts of the city, including Costa del Este and Obarrio, making it easier to move around the city.

Already, you can see the Metro playing a key role in the city. For World Youth Day, the Metro played an important part in allowing the city to handle hundreds of thousands of visitors.

La Prensa reported a “massive influx of people on the first day of operations” of Line 2, as the city explored the new line. The line is designed to handle as many as 40,000 passengers per hour at peak times.