Brazil to revive bullet-train project
25 Aug 2012 7:39 AM IST
Brazil has announced the revival of a $16.5 billion high-speed railway project that would link Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
The National Agency of Terrestrial Transport, or ANTT, published the details of the process for awarding the contract on Thursday. The process will include a public consultation phase, giving people until 24 September to make their ‘suggestions’. Interested companies will have until 30 April 2013, to submit their bids, which will be opened a month later. The bidding process will be divided into two phases. The company or consortium that will manufacture the trains and run the system will be selected first and then a contract will be awarded for building the railway lines, stations and the remaining infrastructure needed for the train’s operation, the ANTT said.
The agency estimates the total cost of the project at 33 billion reais ($16.5 billion).
The project was first announced nearly four years ago and initially formed part of the preparations for Brazil’s role as host nation of the 2014 soccer World Cup.
But three previous bidding processes were declared void after the interested companies rejected certain demands of the Brazilian government, which insisted on keeping fares low.
The most recent attempt to get the project off the ground was made in July 2011.
The National Agency of Terrestrial Transport, or ANTT, published the details of the process for awarding the contract on Thursday. The process will include a public consultation phase, giving people until 24 September to make their ‘suggestions’. Interested companies will have until 30 April 2013, to submit their bids, which will be opened a month later. The bidding process will be divided into two phases. The company or consortium that will manufacture the trains and run the system will be selected first and then a contract will be awarded for building the railway lines, stations and the remaining infrastructure needed for the train’s operation, the ANTT said.
The agency estimates the total cost of the project at 33 billion reais ($16.5 billion).
The project was first announced nearly four years ago and initially formed part of the preparations for Brazil’s role as host nation of the 2014 soccer World Cup.
But three previous bidding processes were declared void after the interested companies rejected certain demands of the Brazilian government, which insisted on keeping fares low.
The most recent attempt to get the project off the ground was made in July 2011.
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