The long-awaited Bogotá metro project

By Daniel Nicolas Gonzalez Sanchez

Review your peer's presentation-Week5
2021
 1. General overview

Bogota Metro Line one, Section one (PLMB) is a

23.96km-long elevated mass rapid transit (MRT) line to
be built in Bogota, Columbia.

Empresa Metro de Bogota (Bogota Metro Company)

(EMB), a state-owned company, is responsible for the
implementation of the project.

APCA Transmimetro Consortium won the contract to

build the Bogota Metro line 1 project through an
international bidding process, in October 2019. The
$5.01bn project will be developed under the design‐
finance‐build‐operate‐maintain‐transfer (DFBOMT)
model. The franchise period for the project is 28 years.

The consortium comprises China Harbour Engineering

Company (CHEC), Xi’an Metro Company, and
Bombardier.

Upon completion, the Bogota Metro line 1 project will be

the main transit line for the public and a major passenger transportation system in the city.

The project will contribute to the social and economic development of the city and generate job opportunities. It forms part
of a wider plan to enhance Bogota’s mass transit network to enable the availability of mass transit network within a distance
of 1km from the homes of the inhabitants by 2050.

The metro rail project is in the pre-construction phase and construction is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2020.
The commissioning of Line 1 is expected to take place during the fourth quarter of 2025.
 2. Summary of the project initiation

The next decade will bring major changes in the way that Bogotá residents move around the city. We’ll cover what’s planned
in a series of articles, from the Metro construction to a TransMilenio expansion, an all-electric suburban tram line, and new
bicycle paths. Utilising newer, clean technologies, the city hopes to cut down commute times and improve mobility – as well
as providing improved public transport solutions for the population of this ever-growing city.

Metro

After 78 years, it looks like Bogotá might finally get its

metro and shake off Medellín’s taunts. City officials say
that Bogotá residents will be able to ride the city’s long-
planned metro by 2025, revolutionising mobility in the city.

The planning phase for the city’s metro officially began in

1942, when then-mayor Carlos Sanz de Santamaría
ordered the first studies for the mass transit system. Now,
the city finally seems to be ready to start construction on
what will be its largest public transit project since the
TransMilenio. Along with the new metro, bogotanos will see a vast array of changes in the city’s public transit system,
hopefully improving mobility and quality of life for many residents.
 3. Summary of the project delivery model

Construction is set to begin in April of this year with Patio Taller in Bosa, a facility with the capacity for 60 in-use trains. Ten
of the 16 stations on the first line will be connected to TransMilenio, so commuters will be able to transfer easily between
the two systems. But there are obvious advantages in speed and comfort of the metro compared to its bus counterpart:
Empresa Metro Bogotá claims that the first line will connect the north to the south in just 27 minutes.

According to Empresa Metro studies, the first line will provide direct benefits to the 2.9 million people who live alongside the
main route and have walking access to the stations. More than one million passengers a day from 78 barrios across
nine localidades are expected to ride. It may not be the strongest claim to fame, but it could become one of the metro
systems serving the largest number of people in South America. Former mayor Enrique Peñalosa has also lauded the
economic benefits of the line: Its construction will generate 60,000 jobs, and many neighbourhood development plans are
linked to the first 16 stations.

Though handing out contracts for the metro was originally a project of the Peñalosa administration, current Mayor Claudia
López has confirmed the planned construction will go ahead. Indeed, she’s even proposed to extend the metro as far as
Calle 100.

While she supports the overall project, she’s also criticised her predecessor for corruption in the planning process. In January
2020, it was revealed that the Peñalosa administration had duplicated studies already commissioned by the previous Petro
administration, prompting a Comptroller’s probe. But López has promised that under her administration, “The metro will
move forward with total transparency.”
For years, metro construction was
held back by the question of
financing. But in 2018, three
international banks agreed to
finance USD$1.5 billion of the total
USD$4.3 billion cost of the metro.
The Inter-American Development
Bank (KDB) and International Bank
for Reconstruction and
Development (IBRD) contributed
USD$600 million each, and the
European Investment Bank (EIB)
offered a USD$480 million loan. The
external investment, in combination
with national and district public
funds that will finance the majority of the project, allowed the metro planning to continue into the bidding phase.

In October 2019, Empresa Metro Bogotá awarded the construction and maintenance contract to Apca Transmimetro
Consortium, a Chinese engineering group. After the bidding process, ‘Bienvenido Metro’ messages have rolled through
TransMilenio buses, and the 78-year plan seems to finally be becoming a reality. The construction consortium plans to break
ground in April 2020; the current timeline expects a fully operational system in five years.
4. Summary of the project delivery capability and alignment

EMB will carry out the planning, structuring, bidding process, and oversight of the DBFOMT contract of the PL
MB. EMB through Colombia’s Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) are carrying out the technical, financial and l
egal structuring of the PLMB. The technical structuring was awarded to an engineering consortium comprised of
SYSTRA‐
INGETEC in January 2017, who is carrying out the basic detailed engineering design of the metro and the tec
hnical specifications for the bidding documents. The financial and legal structuring was awarded in May 2017 to a c
onsortium comprised by Structure, a local investment bank, and KPMG, and the legal firms Garrigues and Duran &
Osorio. This process resulted in the definition of the transaction model
a single DFBOMT contract; the financial and legal structuring team is working on the PLMB financial closure (source
s, terms and instruments). The technical, financial and legal teams will design the bidding process and bidding docu
ments, and will accompany EMB until the contract award (no later than December 2019). Furthermore, throughout t
he metro structuring phase, EMB has been supported by Metro of Santiago de Chile53, and will launch in the seco
nd quarter of this year a process to hire a PMO and a works supervising agency to support its internal capabilities t
o manage the project. The PMO will overlook the technical and strategic aspects of Project implementation, while
EMB carries out the general supervision. EMB is also responsible for the land acquisition (Refer to Annex 3), and m
anagement of related urban developments and real estate projects to be promoted in the metro stations.
Unplanned city growth, heavy congestion and pollution are among the main challenges concerning mobility i
n Bogota. The population distribution has not developed because of careful planning of urban land uses and ser
vices, and as a result, the District faces important challenges due to uncoordinated urban expansion and traf
fic congestion, particularly as the public transport system has not been capable of keeping up with demand. Conge
stion costs in Bogota are estimated to be close to 0.5 percent of the District’s annual GDP (Bocarejo 2015).70 Sev
ere congestion taxes public transit users. In 2015, the average trip by TransMilenio (TM), the District’s flagship Bu
s Rapid Transit (BRT) system was close to an hour, particularly hampered are the users of the city’s zonal buses o
f the Integrated Public Transit System (SITP). In 2015, the commercial speed of the almost 5 million daily trips ma
de in buses running in mixed traffic was only 13km/hr.71 These negative externalities are regressive as the
y disproportionately affect the poor who spend more on transport and rely more heavily on public transit. For instan
ce, in 2014, households in the poorest areas of the District spent up to 6 times more of their monthly income on tra
nsport than those in richer areas, and their employment accessibility worsened.72
With an additional 2.5 million people projected in the region over the next four decades, policy makers and planners
are increasingly looking at longerTerm development and redevelopment of the urban fabric in order to achieve regi
onal sustainability (Suzuki et al. 2013).
More efficient public transportation is vital to enhance mobility, access to opportunities, and productivity in Bogot
a. This operation supports the District into becoming more equitable, greener and accessible to fully tap int
o its agglomeration economies, and provide equal opportunities to all its residents.
5. Key lesson learned:

A. The Bogota Metro Line 1 section one is co-funded by the capital city and the national government. The financing
support for the project is supported by multilateral banks and institutions. As per a financing agreement, the District
of Bogota will provide $2.4bn over a 25 year-period, while the Colombian Government will contribute approximately
$5bn. Bogota is supporting the initial phase of the project with an initial contribution of $700m. EMB requested the
World Bank to provide a total of $600m for the construction of Bogota’s first metro line. The International Bank for
Reconstruction and Development, which is administered by the World Bank, agreed to finance $70m of the total
amount for audits, technical studies and initial construction works of the viaduct. It will provide the remaining $530m
to fund the main construction works between 2022 and 2025. In August 2018, the European Investment Bank (EIB)
and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) agreed to provide $480m and $600m, respectively. Elevated
Railway Stations.
B. Contractors involved in Bogota metro rail project Systra conducted the preliminary studies of the metro line. The
company won a contract to provide project management of the design phase and construct the viaduct. CRRC
Changchun Railway Vehicles was awarded a contract to supply 210 GoA4 driverless subway vehicles. The contract
scope also includes maintenance of the vehicles for a period of 20 years. Project’s Schedule
 Temporary jobs will be created as part of the development of project activities in the different phases, benefiting both
the people hired and those located in the area of influence, to the degree that it will improve the income levels of
families, promoting an improvement in their quality of life and increasing the demand for goods and services.
 There will be an impact on the Los Héroes Monument, located at Calle 80 adjacent to the TransMilenio station, which
will generate public discontent. A specific program should be applied to this impact.
 The Metro project will provide occupants of the public space and those currently engaged in informal sales,
opportunities for formal work, and workshops and training in formalizing their businesses and business management
in order to improve the quality of life of this population group. Arenas for public participation will be promoted in the
different stages of the project in order to involve the community and the general public in the development of the
system.
 Programs and activities will be developed in both the resettlement plan and in the social management plan based on
the needs and characteristics of the population.
 The work will generate an impact on the people settled in the corridor during the pre-construction and construction
stages, which will mean the implementation of work management plans related to the information on the modifications
of the topics of mobility and safety, among others.
 The project will seek to promote changes in mobility habits in terms of promoting the use of alternative transportation
modes and the use of public transportation.

6. References

 https://www.inframationgroup.com/latin-america-colombia-details-private-financing-role-bogot%C3%A1-metro
 https://www.metrodebogota.gov.co/sites/default/files/Presentacio%c3%acn%20RS%20-
%20UK%20FDN%20PLMB-8.4.2018%20v6%20FINAL.pdf
 https://www.railway-technology.com/projects/bogota-metro/
 http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/771821533439847685/pdf/PAD-final-07162018.pdf
 https://thebogotapost.com/transport-bogota-construction-to-start-on-bogotas-metro/43992/