1970s: First Designs Between 1972 and 1973, the "Metrolima" consortium elaborated the technical-economical feasibility studies and the pre-project of the "Mass Rapid Transit System for Passengers in the Metropolitan Area of
Lima and
Callao", approved by the Government of
Peru in 1974. However, the political crisis generated by the sudden illness of President
Juan Velasco Alvarado and the problem of his succession, added to the complexity of the Limean soil located in a highly
seismic zone, as well as the international economic crisis of the time, made it impossible to get the necessary financing of US$317,000,000. This entity called for a public contest for the implementation of this system, won by the Italian-capital "Consorcio Tralima" consortium. It started promptly the infrastructure work for an elevated viaduct metro. Construction started by placing the first stone on October 18, 1986, making its construction the main promise made in 1987 by the newly elected Mayor of Lima and member of the government party
Jorge del Castillo.The work began with a maintenance facility in the
district of Villa El Salvador, south of the city, where the trains were meant to be stored and receive preventive maintenance. Construction advanced at a relatively fast pace, but when Line 1 reached the Atocongo Station, the country became immersed in a deep economic and social crisis, in addition to corruption scandals involving President Garcia, Alan García celebrated the opening of the line, despite the fact that the line was incomplete and did not reach areas of higher demand and density. The metro remained nearly useless in practice, given that the required investments for its operation and maintenance were unjustifiable for its ridership. In spite of that, the subsequent governments tried to revive the project because of the significant investment put into the trains and infrastructure. On several occasions, candidates in both presidential and municipal elections used it politically with the promise of finishing the project, although it never materialized. The municipalities crossed by the metro started to cover the unfinished segments in an attempt to diminish the negative impact on the urban landscape. This way, the centre median of Av. Aviación had pillars with grass in order to avoid the invasion of ambulatory commerce (which represented a large problem in Lima at the time). Vegetation was planted in order to cover the uncovered pieces of steel and concrete of the unfinished project. Some districts also painted the columns and walls with images of Peruvian landscapes and nature, deeming the project as definitively cancelled.On August 5, 2001, the AATE (Electrical Train Autonomous Authority) was passed on to the
Metropolitan Municipality of Lima through the Urgency Decree N° 058–2001. Subsequently, the Lima Metro only made trips to give preventive maintenance to the trains. The columns and rights-of-way of the train remained, for more than two decades, as a living example of the bad management of the first
APRA government between 1985 and 1990. Several artistic and musical groups took advantage of the situation to satirize the project. The "El Tren Eléctrico" song by Juan Luis Dammert and the imaginary launch campaign denominated "Lima 2427" (calculated finishing year given the progress rate the project had thus far), launched by artist Camila Bustamante. This campaign placed stickers in the supposed future stations and gave out informative flyers on the streets, allowing the general public to find out that the project didn't have just one line but seven interconnected lines servicing the whole city.
2010s: Completion of the first line In 2009, the government decided that the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) would retake the administration of the AATE (Electrical Train Autonomous Authority). It also put an entity called "Provias Nacional" in charge of organizing a public bid to select the consortium that would build the remaining sections of the project. Financing would come from a foreign debt operation with the
Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) for US$300 million. This credit was approved on August 18, 2009. On December 2, 2009, the government approved for the "Consorcio Tren Eléctrico Lima" consortium, (formed by Brazilian company
Odebrecht and Peruvian company Graña y Montero) to build the line from the unfinished first segment until Grau station in Downtown Lima. Construction started On March 2, 2010, and the second segment opened on July 11, 2011. The third segment of the line that connects Downtown Lima to the northeastern district of San Juan de Lurigancho opened for public service on July 25, 2014. the Basic Metro Network of Lima and Callao, signaling the implementation of a network consisting of 5 lines of metro for Lima, contemplating the construction of ground, elevated and underground segments.
2020s: Construction of second line The consortium "Nuevo Metro de Lima", consisting of the companies COSAPI (Peru), Impregilo,
Ansaldo Breda & Ansaldo STS (Italy), Iridium, and Vialia (Spain) won the bid for the construction of Line 2 of the Lima Metro, and a segment of Line 4 that will connect it to the airport. The contract was signed on April 28, 2014. Though initially scheduled for completion in 2021, only the first segment of the project, spanning 5 kilometers and 5 stations, has been completed as of January 2024. This segment opened for operations in December 2023. == Line 1 ==