ARGENTINA: The Buenos Aires city government has announced plans to borrow up to US$380m to continue work on metro expansion, which had been cut back for lack of funding. The Andean Development Corp will lend US$80m whilst Mayor of Buenos Aires Mauricio Macri intends to raise around 350m pesos on the financial markets.
The city wants to complete the extensions currently under construction on Line A to Flores, Line B to Villa Urquiza and Line H to Avenida Corrientes by the end of 2011.
Work on the new Line B depot resumed in December. In addition to completing the two stations and depot, more rolling stock is needed to operate the extended line. Second-hand Series 5000 trains from Metro de Madrid, built by CAF in the 1970s, are being acquired, but must be modified before entering service.
The national government is continuing work on the 347m peso three-station extension of Line E to Retiro, which it hopes to open on May 25, to mark the bicentenary of Argentina's independence. Metrovías is to renovate 5·5 km of track on Line D, between Palermo and Carranza and from Callao to Catedral at a cost of 22m pesos.
