Metro de Madrid has submitted the final studies for the construction of the Quito subway, whose initial phase is already open for bidding. The 129 volumes of studies delivered on Monday contain the definitive designs for the 22km (14-mile) tunnel through which the single subway line will run, as well as for 13 of the 15 stations, the power systems and a multitude of other details.
The plans were received at a ceremony by Quito Mayor Augusto Barrera, who said that after reviewing the documents, the municipality will “immediately” put the work out to tender.
Metro de Madrid had already delivered the studies in May for the first phase of the work, which included designs for two stations, train depots and workshops, for which the bidding has already begun.
Construction of these installations is scheduled to start in November and be finished in 2014, while work on the tunnel will begin in August 2013, Ecuador’s National Preinvestment Institute, or INP, which financed the studies, said in a statement.
With the start-up of operations in 2016, the Quito subway will cross the city from north to south in 1/2 hour and will transport around 400,000 passengers a day, according to city government estimates.
The project will cost US$1.4 billion, of which the European Investment Bank, or EIB, the Latin American Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, or IDB, will provide half the amount in loans, according to municipality plans. The remainder will be financed with contributions from the municipality and loans from the Ecuadorian Social Security Bank, or Biess, and by suppliers, the city government said in May.
Metro de Madrid and Quito city hall signed a first contract in October 2010 to get studies underway for the conceptual design of Quito’s Integrated Mass Transport System and of the first subway line, which entailed an investment of more than US$7.7 million. The two parties signed another contract in November 2011 to continue the work.
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