The Lima Metropolitan Municipality paid S/32.8 million to American rail operator Caltrain for 20 locomotives and 93 rail cars across nine transfers between May 20 and July 18, 2025.
In addition to the payments made to Caltrain, the city spent S/47.5 million to contract maritime transport for the railway equipment from San Francisco, California, to the port of Callao in Peru.
The combined expenditure reached S/80.3 million in public funds, according to financial data submitted by the Metropolitan Council to Peru's Comptroller General's Office.
Lima, the capital of Peru with over 10 million inhabitants, acquired the commuter rail equipment under an infrastructure plan led by Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga. Caltrain operates regional passenger rail services across the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley.
Comptroller audit and financial breakdown
Peru's Comptroller General's Office reported that municipal authorities failed to submit itemized information explaining what specific payment concepts were covered by the S/32.8 million transferred to Caltrain.
However, an internal projection from the council's Office of Planning, Modernization and Financial Management estimated that accepting the Caltrain fleet would require total expenditures of 24.5 million US dollars, equivalent to roughly S/88.2 million.
An official Comptroller audit report dated August 7, 2025, detailed the projected breakdown of costs associated with the Caltrain deal:
- 1,000,000 US dollars for early contract termination fees
- 5,442,915 US dollars for the purchase cost of 93 rail cars
- 1,060,000 US dollars for the cost of 20 locomotives
- 2,000,000 US dollars for equipment removal and dismantling
Summing these four projected categories yields 9,502,915 US dollars, or S/34,210,494 at the applicable exchange rate, closely aligning with the S/32,811,873 that the municipality reported paying Caltrain.
Council debate and mayoral proposal
During a Metropolitan Council session on November 13, 2024, municipal officials debated the proposal introduced by Mayor Rafael Lopez Aliaga to accept Caltrain's offer.
According to Council Agreement Minutes N° 419, dated November 13, 2024 and signed by Lopez Aliaga, total expected costs to transfer the machinery to Lima were set at 24,502,915 US dollars.
The council document outlined that expenses included 7,502,915 US dollars to accept the railway donation and 17,000,000 US dollars for parts removal and shipping.
Combining the 7,502,915 US dollars acceptance fee with 2,000,000 US dollars for parts removal equals 9,502,915 US dollars, matching the figure provided to auditors for the Caltrain payments.
The Metropolitan Council of Lima functions as the legislative and governing body for the province of Lima, holding responsibility for approving municipal budgets and public transit proposals.
Donation terms and transport agreement
While the transaction was structured as a donation from the California rail operator, city records acknowledge that acquiring the equipment required significant financial outlays from municipal coffers.
The council minutes explicitly record that accepting Caltrain's donation entailed considerable spending by the Lima municipality, in line with figures presented by the mayor.
The minutes note that the Lima Metropolitan Municipality would assume an approximate expenditure of 24,503,915 US dollars, comprising 7,502,915 US dollars for donation acceptance and roughly 17,000,000 US dollars for removal of components and transit.
This council approval occurred three days prior to the official signing of the agreement between Caltrain and the Lima municipality on November 16, 2024.
Council records cite Caltrain's position that the payments did not constitute compensation for the value of the donated assets, but represented costs necessary to satisfy legal and operational requirements for the city to secure free disposition of the equipment.
To handle the ocean transport, the municipality contracted Sea Marine Transport, an independent company separate from Caltrain, for a total fee of 13,198,478 US dollars.
Budget results and operational costs
The Office of Planning, Modernization and Financial Management originally projected disbursements of 9,502,915 US dollars to Caltrain and 15,000,000 US dollars for sea freight, totaling 24,502,915 US dollars.
Final payment records confirm that the municipality ultimately paid 9,114,409 US dollars to Caltrain and 13,198,478 US dollars to Sea Marine Transport, representing a total expenditure of 22,312,887 US dollars, or S/80,326,393.
The actual final cost was 2,190,028 US dollars lower than the municipal government's initial projection of 24,502,915 US dollars.
In addition to acquisition and transport fees, the municipal planning office calculated that putting the trains into service will require substantial additional funding.
An estimated 423,198,615 US dollars in further investment will be needed to operationalize the railway line running from Desamparados Station in central Lima to Chosica on the city's eastern periphery.
Desamparados Station is a historic railway terminal in downtown Lima, while Chosica is a suburban district located approximately 40 kilometers east in the Rimac River valley.
