Mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, talks about the future of the Metro | Regions | Economy

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Within the framework of the debate that has arisen around the Bogotá Metro, the mayor of the capital, Carlos Fernando Galán, addressed the citizens to communicate the progress that has been made in the work and what the future of the project is.

(Read more: Does Petro give up on an underground metro for Bogotá? This would be his new proposal)

During his speech, the mayor mentioned the different attempts that have been made to incorporate this transportation system in the city and highlighted what the project has achieved to date.

“For the first time in history, Bogotá has a contract to build the Metro signed and financed. A contract in which two national governments participated, which has the support of multilateral banks, is in execution and is 31% complete. this moment. That 31% is the result of eight years and two district administrations: that of Peñalosa, who hired him, and that of Claudia López, who continued him,” the president highlighted.

Galán also made reference to the position of President Gustavo Petro, which has focused on demonstrating the viability of a section of the first line being carried out underground.

“Yesterday in his speech, the President himself acknowledged that the Metro that he proposed can no longer be executed. He then proposed an alternative to the project that is under construction, a modification to make a route along Carrera 13 and then through Caracas, which It does not even have pre-feasibility studies. A modification that would lengthen the wait that already totals 82 by at least four more years,” he noted.

In that sense, and considering that the idea proposed by the head of state still needs four years of work, the mayor of Bogotá was emphatic in saying that “we are not going to change certainties, due to the risk of uncertainty.”

(Read more: ‘We are still on the same page’: Galán reiterates that Bogotá Metro will continue without changes)

Regarding the study carried out by the Colombian Society of Engineers, which the Government has mentioned to support its idea, Galán recalled that the entity has indicated that this analysis was contracted to carry out a methodology that serves as a reference for all development projects that They have to do with transportation in the country and that it was an academic exercise.

“Evaluating future projects in the country is not evaluating projects that are in execution. Compared to the Metro, not a step back,” he indicated.

First columns of the Bogotá Metro

Mauricio Moreno / Portfolio

(Read more: Government insists on changing one of the sections of the Bogotá Metro)

The mayor of the capital indicated that the modification proposed by President Petro is legally impossible and technically unfeasible.

“There is a contract signed and in execution and we are respectful of the law, the institutions and the Constitution and we are going to fulfill the contract.”

In financial terms, Galán pointed out that the city has already made investments of 2.9 billion pesos, so if the project is adjusted, a good part of those resources would be lost. In that sense, he cited as an example the money paid on Caracas Avenue for the purchase of land and the transfer of networks, an amount that amounts to 542,000 million pesos.

“We are not talking about resources that would be lost, nor is it a future calculation of what the social cost could be. They are physical investments, investments that have already been made in the territory, in public service networks and in the purchase of land ( …) Stopping the Metro project is going against the progress of Bogotá, assuming million-dollar losses and failing to deliver for the people of Bogotá,” he added.

(Read more: Government confirms feasibility of undergrounding part of the Bogotá Metro)

Finally, the mayor of Bogotá called on the President to look to the future, work on what has already been built and focus efforts on the next lines that would integrate the Metro system in Bogotá. Furthermore, he promised to continue and protect the project so that in a couple of years it can be delivered as agreed.

“The Bogotá Metro is the most important infrastructure work in our history, today that work is advancing and will be delivered in 2028. I invite all citizens to defend the Metro, our Metro,” he concluded.

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