Webuild and its consortium partners have completed the final tunnel breakthrough on a section of Line 4 of the Metro de Lima, marking a significant milestone in the development of the Peruvian capital’s first underground rail service.
The breakthrough occurred as tunnel boring machine (TBM) Micaela arrived at Carmen de la Legua Station, which will serve as a future interchange between Lines 2 and 4.
The excavation work, undertaken alongside TBM Delia, involved drilling more than 20km of tunnels beneath Lima, from the Province to the Port of Callao and through the city’s main districts.
The completion of this section brings the wider Metro de Lima project closer to providing an extended underground transport corridor across key urban and industrial areas.
An official ceremony marking the breakthrough was attended by the president of Peru, Keiko Fujimori, and Peru’s minister of transport and communications, Angello Tangherlini.
Following the arrival at the eighth and last station of the Line 4 section, TBM Micaela is scheduled to proceed to a dismantling shaft in November.
The tunnels are part of a contract commissioned by Peru’s Ministry of Transport and Communications, encompassing 35km of lines, 27km on Line 2 and 8km on Line 4.
Once operational, the new metro routes will serve ten districts in Lima, connecting the port and industrial zones of Callao with central and residential areas.
According to project details, travel times between Ate and Callao are expected to decrease from two hours and 45 minutes to just 45 minutes.
Webuild is involved in the construction and operation of Line 2, as well as the section of Line 4 between Avenida Faucett and Avenida Gambetta.
The lines are intended to support the government’s strategy to consolidate Lima’s Metro network, which also includes plans for the concession of Line 3.
Studies indicate that Line 3 is expected to concentrate most future public transport demand in the capital.
Webuild has extensive experience in urban transport projects, with a track record that includes construction of more than 890km of metro systems in multiple countries.
The company’s ongoing international projects include Sydney Metro-Western Sydney International Airport in Australia and Grand Paris Express Line 15 West in France.
Last month, Webuild began excavation of the Melito Tunnel on the Naples-Bari high-speed rail line, using a TBM called Aurora for the final of three tunnels on the route.
