Spain readies consortium to bid on Brazil high-speed rail project
Agência EFE
Spain's development minister said here Monday that her country is organizing a consortium of public and private companies to bid on the contract to create a high-speed passenger rail service linking Brazil's two largest cities.
Spain "has all the requisites to enter a bidding like this," Ana Pastor said during the inauguration in Sao Paulo of the Efe Cafe da Manhã Forum, a series of informative breakfasts sponsored by the Spanish company Indra.
The minister was accompanied by the president of Spanish state railway operator Renfe, Julio Gomez-Pomar.
The bids must be presented on Aug. 13.
"We will soon have defined the Spanish consortium that will enter the competition," Gomez-Pomar told Efe.
The complete work will require a total investment of 35 billion reais ($17.5 billion), according to Brazilian government estimates.
The project, which will span 511 kilometers (318 miles), will connect Sao Paulo with Rio de Janeiro.
To the audience of business executives, high government officials and journalists, Pastor noted Spain's wide experience in high-speed railroads, having the second-largest system in the world after China.
"It is an international example of the highest order," Pastor said, adding that in April the first Spanish high-speed railroad line, between Madrid and Seville, will have been in operation for 21 years.
The minister made a commitment that if the winning consortium is the Spanish one, there will be a transfer of technology to Brazil.
France, Germany, Japan and South Korea have also expressed an interest in taking part in the tender.