Peru has signed a contract with an international consortium to build a $5.7 billion subway system in the capital city Lima, President Ollanta Humala announced on Monday. "It's the biggest and most important construction project in the history of our nation," Humala said at the presidential palace, during a televised ceremony announcing the project. Construction will take about five years, with stops planned in the heart of the historic capital, at Lima's Jorge Chavez International Airport and at the port of Callao, among other stations. Officials said the rail system, to be built by a consortium of Spanish, Italian and Peruvian companies, is expected to radically reduce transit times around the city. The Lima subway will have 35 stations and cover 43 kilometers (27 miles) of track, officials said. Once up and running, the system is expected to transport about a million passengers each day in this capital region of some 10 million inhabitants.