IDB Signs Sao Paulo Metro Loan

The IDB has agreed a $481m 25-year loan to help Brazil’s Sao Paulo state expand and upgrade its Metro Line 5 (Purple Line). The deal has a 4.5-year grace period and Libor-based interest rate. In 2013, when the line becomes fully operational, the number of Purple Line passengers will rise more than fivefold, to 644,000 from 120,000, says the lender. The facility will finance upgrading of 8 existing 6-car trains to bring them up to the same operating standards as the new fleet. It will also finance design, implementation and supervision of several systems for the train operation, including telecoms and power supply. Sao Paulo will cover the cost of construction and supervision of tunnel works and track (12 km of tunnel and 11 new metro stations), the purchase of 26 new 6-car trains and a signaling system. In 2008, the IDB financed two urban transportation projects in Sao Paulo: upgrading Metro line 4, with a $129m loan. The second loan of $168m helped purchase new trains and control systems, and financed technical studies to expand public transportation in the southern part of the city, where most of the low-income population lives.