With the aim of unlocking the difficulties that have arisen between the District Municipality of Bogotá, the National Government and the Government of Cundinamarca, against the project RegioTram, the National Planning Department (DNP) has the task of hiring a consultant to study its financial model and to define its feasibility. Thus, by May 2017, the financial scheme and the feasibility study should be ready for the public and interested rail industry companies to access them.
Moreover, in January 2017, the Colombian President, Juan Manuel Santos, approved the funding scheme for the RegioTram commuter train linking the El Dorado International Airport and the new airport to be built in Facatativa, better known as El Dorado 2. The cost of the project is estimated at 5 billion pesos (USD 1.7 billion).
It is estimated that the RegioTram will carry about 211,000 passengers per day and will have total of 41 km of track, of which 15 kilometers will be in Bogotá (12 stations) and 26 kilometers in the suburban area (6 stations).
The RegioTram project, led by the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) will connect the capital with the municipalities of Funza, Madrid Mosquera and Facatativa Cundinamarca in less than 50 minutes. RegioTram will be a PPP funded project, with private financing accounting for 70% of the project and the rest of 30%, from government funds.
“The next step will be to open a tender, once they have permits detailed by administration of Bogotá and the Ministry of Finance,” said CEO of ANI, Luis Fernando Andrade.
Also, the new rail line will connect the two airports, in the capital of Colombia, with the city center. Currently, Bogotá has no trams or light rail transit system, it only has the metro transport system, so the news about the RegioTram project is a step towards a greener city and towards better public transport services for the citizens.
Andrade also highlighted that for a city like Bogotá, this rail transport service is one of the most important factors for future growth and for the development of airports, recalling the importance of this new line for the two air terminals.
According to the National Infrastructure Agency, the RegioTram wil improve the mobility to the west of the capital and the people who go to Fontibón, Mosquera, Madrid and Facatativá will have a higher quality of life. In addition, this new rail line will supplement mass transport systems that Bogotá has and will have in the future, as the current metro system.
Also, three rail projects were included in a National Council of Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) document signed this January. RegioTram is among these projects.
The other two projects relate to Transmilenio phases II and III, the future elevated rail system of Bogotá, which actually means the extension of the metro transport system. These two phases were estimated at a cost of USD 6.3 billion.
by Elena Ilie
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