Colombia’s infrastructure agency ANI announced on Tuesday that four rail consortia had submitted bids to rebuild Colombia’s railways.
Four consortia, each comprising of more than one rail firm from both Colombian and international backgrounds, has bid for the opportunity to “rehabilitate” the line between Bogota -Belencito and La Dorada-Chiriguaná, replacing a total track length of 875 kilometers.
The president of the ANI said that “this is a major step towards meeting the Government’s firm commitment to revive the train in Colombia, making us a more modern and competitive country. We thank the companies for all their efforts spent preparing these proposals, it is a major project for Colombia.”
The total budget for the project at present is $102 million and will take place over two years. New improvements to the track will ensure that the operation of both passenger and freight trains is optimised. Tracks will also be relaid where necessary after the winter of 2010 – 2011 caused damage to the structure.
The four consortia, Railroads Dracol of Colombia; Fercol Consortium, Colombia Railway; Central Railway Joint Venture and Rail Consortium Colombia, will be informed as to which of them is successful on September 25 this year.