Lima BOT project
One year on, the "Troncal" opens to passengers
The Lima BOT project is progressing fast. Less than a year after the contract was signed, articulated CNG buses are already operating on the southern part of the "Troncal" right-of-way line crossing the Peruvian capital. We take stock with Ralph Pollandt, GM of ACS Peru.
A state-of-the-art contactless ticketing system, fleet geolocation system and passenger information system for the 30 km BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) line, all operated by a dedicated ACS subsidiary... We made the announcement in e-letter no. 18: the Lima city transport operator, Protransporte, has joined forces with ACS to roll out a new-generation transport network, in the framework of an ambitious BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) project.
Less than a year after the contract was signed, a large part of the dream has already come true. Since May, passengers have been using the southern section of the famous "Troncal" free of charge, during an introductory promotional period. This right-of-way BRT line will be more than 30 km long, have 38 stations and link the north and south sides of the city. "Construction of the infrastructure and installation of the equipment ('Build' phase) has already passed the half-way mark," explains Ralph Pollandt, GM of ACS Peru, the dedicated subsidiary that will run the network for a 14-year period ('Operate' phase). The intersecting lines feeding this first section of the "Troncal" are also in service. "After a two-month introductory promotional phase, without validation, to check that the infrastructure is functioning correctly, the ticketing equipment is ready to enter service and start selling tickets in July, once all the legal formalities have been concluded", Ralph Pollandt explains.On the southern part of the corridor, 28 sales booths and 30 automatic vending machines will open on the same day, complementing the 40 retail outlets of our partner Telefonica. The rest of the "Troncal" and the remaining sales points will begin operating gradually as of August, taking the total to 64 selling booths, 64 automatic vending machines and 100 retail outlets.
100% CNG*
The northern section of the "Troncal" is set to enter service in the next three or four months. With 312 articulated buses on the BRT and 232 buses on the intersecting and feeder lines, Lima will thus have the largest fleet of 100% CNG vehicles in Latin America. "On the north side of the city, the fleet will refuel at the biggest CNG station on the continent – a huge addition to the one already in service on the south side," Ralph Pollandt stresses. During the same period, the workforce of ACS Peru will increase from 12 at present to about forty. They will notably be in charge of maintenance, back-office operations and supervision of subcontractors: sales and service will be handled by a force of nearly 300 outsourced service company employees, many of whom have already been recruited.
* Compressed Natural Gas
Ralph Pollandt, GM of ACS Peru
See also our case study: Lima, the "BOT" that changed everything
