Agreement signed with Peruvian government for financing Electric Train.

(Cancun, March 23, 2010).- To recover the quality of life of the people of the city of Lima and solve serious problems of urban mobility, CAF and the Peruvian government today signed a loan agreement for US$300 million to partially finance the civil works component of the Villa El Salvador-Avenida Grau section of Line 1 of the Lima Urban Train, better known as the Electric Train.

The loan agreement was signed by CAF President & CEO Enrique García, and Peruvian Minister of Economy and Finance Mercedes Araóz during the 51st IDB Governors Annual Meeting.

The project is part of the integrated plan to modernize the urban transport system with the participation of the national government and Lima Metropolitan Municipality. This section marks the first stage of a long-term initiative whose objective is to provide the cities of Lima and Callao with an urban mass transport system.

The objective is to improve the quality of life of the population located in its area of influence through savings in travel time and higher quality and safer transport.

"It is a very important project for Peru and CAF. The electric train is an urgent necessity for Lima because it offers passengers a high capacity solution to the problem of urban transport, with a faster, safer, cheaper and non-polluting service," Garcia said.

The Lima Electric Train will move people around the city, connecting downtown with districts such as Villa El Salvador, Villa María del Triunfo, San Juan de Miraflores, Surco, San Borja, and La Victoria.

The components of the project, whose total cost is over US$550 million, include construction of the remaining infrastructure, installation of electromechanical equipment, acquisition of rolling stock, and start of the first phase of Line 1 from Villa El Salvador station to Grau.

The works also include rehabilitation of the existing railway, construction of 11.7 km of new viaduct between the Atocongo and Grau stations, and reconditioning and modernization of 32 wagons, rehabilitation and modernization of seven stations, and building of nine new stations.