Argentina’s Minister of Transport, Guillermo Dietrich, signed a USD 1 billion contract with China Railway Construction Corporation Limited (CRCC) for the rehabilitation of the rail network between Mendoza and Rosario to increase fivefold the freight transport capacity.
The contract was signed during the G20 summit, held in Buenos Aires.
The first phase of the project envisages the renovation of 1,020 km lines of San Martín Cargas between the shipping hub of Rosario in the east and Mendoza province in the west and the construction of a 200 km line between Rufino and Santa Teresa, in the Province of Santa Fe. The second stage will include works to improve the bypass, junctions and the signaling system.
“This is a big step for the reactivation of country’s rail freight transport system. The works will impact the provinces of Mendoza, Cordoba, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires, reactivating the regional economies, boosting employment and development and reducing logistics costs. We are hardly working to recover the rail freight network throughout the country,” the minister said.
The project on the modernization of the San Martín railway network, between Palmira and Mendoza, to the ports of Rosario and Buenos Aires, will allow longer trains, will reduce the transport costs by 55% and will generate savings of more than USD 200 million per year in logistics costs. After works completion, it is expected that the transport volume will increase from 1.5 million tonnes per year, to 3 million tonnes in 2025 and 8 million tonnes in 2030.
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