Hang on, the buses will be arriving shortly

(Newsroompanama.com) The buck has passed down the line and the governmental trumpets that heralded the arrivaI of the Metro buses have been passed to  Transporte Masivo de Panamá - the consortium that operates the new system.

But the message has been muted.,This week a spokesperson  for the group pointed out that the new mass transit program is experiencing “some delays”

Speaking on  a Telemetro news program, he said that the delay in the program that had 18 months of advance government planning, was because it is taking longer than expected to recruit and train people for the Metro Bus team, which is paying better average salaries than many businesses.

The system was to have started December 18 on the South Corridor, but rains were blamed for a 10 day postponement. Days after the system started on only a few selected routes buses were out of service on the Pedregal route because of lack of drivers.

The spokesman said that the Mañanitas-Corredor Sur (southern highway) route will begin functioning on Friday, Jan. 21.

The Tocumen and December 24 lines are still missing from the Corredor Sur route, but are expected to be running by the first week of February.

Meanwhile no no date has been given for the start of buses on Corredor Norte, originally scheduled for early January.

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Original Source: Newsroompanama.com

Date Retrieved: January 20, 2011