Bullet train bid to be held in May
O Estado de S. Paulo
The Government intends to hold, on May 2, the public bid for the concession of the project of the bullet train that will connect Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. The forecast was made yesterday by the Minister and Chief of Staff to the President, Dilma Rousseff, during the announcement of the report of the three years of the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC).
According to the Minister, the Federal Budget Oversight Board (TCU), which is currently analyzing the documents the bidding rules are based on, should conclude their evaluation until February 17. Thus, the rules could be published in early March. According to Ms. Rousseff, the works should be ready before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. In the PAC, however, the estimate is that the works be completed in 2015, therefore, after the FIFA Soccer Cup.
The bullet-train will have a total length of 511 kilometers and, according to estimates of the Government itself, it should demand investments of nearly R$ 34 billion (US$ 18.9 billion). The Government should create a new State-owned company called Empresa de Pesquisas Ferroviárias (EPF) - or Railway Research Company, in English - in order to take part in the project. The company will, for instance, coordinate the technology transfer process - one of the main demands the Government shall make to the foreign companies and Governments interested in the project.
During the report of the PAC, Ms. Rousseff also said the works of the segment of the Ferrovia Norte-Sul - North-South Railroad - that will connect the Goiás city of Anápolis to Estrela d'Oeste, in the interior of São Paulo, will begin in the first half of 2010. "And the railroad will get to Anápolis until the end of this year", said the Minister. The Anápolis-Estrela d'Oeste segment of Norte-Sul will be nearly 680 kilometers long and will connect Norte-Sul to the São Paulo Railroad network and, consequently, to the Port of Santos. As a whole, when completed the Ferrovia Norte-Sul will be 2,254 kilometers long divided into two main segments: the Northern, from Açailândia (MA) to Palmas (719 kilometers long) and the Southern, from Palmas to Estrela d'Oeste (with 1,534 kilometers of extension). The total investment is estimated at nearly R$ 6.5 billion (US$ 3.6 billion).