Ecuador to provide more funds to finish Cuenca light rail

Ecuador's economy and defense ministries have expanded previous financing agreements with Cuenca municipality to provide an additional US$11mn to finish the city's US$280mn light rail system.

The economy ministry added US$7mn to the cap of its active transference arrangement, leaving it at US$31mn, while the defense ministry raised its share for the project from US$20mn to US$24mn, a press release from the public works ministry says.

During the signing of the documents, according to daily El Tiempo public works minister Paúl Granda said that the project originally had a US$232mn budget, but it will end up costing US$44mn more, which still have to be secured.

The project has been on hold since October 2016 when consortium Cuatro Ríos Cuenca abandoned the works, which were then 80% complete.

A separate contract to finish the light rail was awarded to a French consortium ACTN on September 18 for US$44mn, Tranvía Cuenca's Twitter page shows. The concessionaire consists of Alstom, CIM and NGE Contracting.

The initiative entails installing a 20km line with 27 stations. It is expected that this new service will transport 120,000 passengers per day.