São Paulo Government studies turning Express Airport concession into PPP
Valor Econômico
The government of São Paulo is studying the possibility of turning the concession of the Express Airport, a train projected to connect the downtown area of the capital to the airport of Guarulhos, into a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). The project was placed as a public tender in June as a regular concession - with only private investment -, but due to a review of the passengers' demand, the Secretary of Metropolitan Transports, José Luiz Portella, says the participation of the State will be necessary in order to make the work attractive to the private initiative.
According to Portella, the lack of definition on the construction of the 3rd terminal of the airport of Guarulhos has affected the study of the demand of passengers used in the public notice. According to the project that was being bid, the passenger demand expectation in the beginning of the operation was of 18.7 thousand people a day, evolving to a peak of 32 thousand people/day after the construction of the third terminal in the airport.
The secretary explains that since the maximum rate of R$ 35 (US$ 19) is at an adequate level, the solution should be to reduce the private investment in the work. Three alternatives are being studied for that. In one of them the State undertakes part of the initial investment to be paid in the future by the concessionaire. Other alternative is to facilitate the access of the passengers to the Luz Station, with improvements in the system so as to make the airport express more attractive to the public. The third alternative is to turn the concession into a PPP, in which the State complements the rate collection of the concessionaire.
The new study of demand of the Airport Express also takes into consideration the high speed rail (HSR) that will connect Campinas to Rio de Janeiro, going through São Paulo, will not compete with the São Paulo line. The Secretary affirms that although the HSR has stops at the Campo de Marte, in the capital, and at the Airport of Guarulhos, there will be no sharing of rates, that is, no tickets will be sold between Campo de Marte and Guarulhos.
According to Portella, that guarantee was given two months ago with the execution of an agreement between the National Development Bank (BNDES) and the Government of São Paulo. The HSR project implementation manager of the Terrestrial Transportation National Agency (ANTT), Roberto Dias David, says, however, that the rate system of the high speed train has not been defined yet. "The high speed train will have eight stations, and for each trip segment there is a rate that should be regulated. The rate between Campo de Marte and Guarulhos will certainly be more expensive than that of the Airport Express, because the high speed train is a more expensive system", he says.