Quito metro: 'Early next year it should be operating at full capacity'

On September 5, the selection committee of the Metro de Quito subway company chose a consortium formed by French company Transdev and Colombia's Metro de Medellín to operate line No. 1 of the metro in the Ecuadoran capital.

The consortium had initially been selected to operate the line in July, but Metro de Quito relaunched the process in early August after the consortium asked for an inflation-linked price adjustment mechanism to be included in the contract.

The group made a bid of US$189mn for the six-year operating contract, well below the US$273mn offered by the other bidder, Metro de São Paulo.

BNamericas speaks with Metro de Quito's operations manager, Roberto Custode, about the steps leading up to signing the respective contract and the start of operations on the line, expected to take place in October and December, respectively.

BNamericas: At what stage is the process after the selection of the Franco-Colombian consortium?

Custode: In the technical area, an adjustment is being made to the documents that will be used in the pre-contractual stage so that there's greater certainty.

For example, the details involving security responses have now been adjusted. This must be structured according to certain alert levels in the system, as a result of the agreement between the proponent and the company Metro de Quito, the interaction with third-party companies for the maintenance of trains and rolling stock, among other things.

BNamericas: Will operations start with 18 trains?

Custode: We will start with a lower number so that the public becomes familiar with the new transport system.

This controlled stage will last between three and five weeks. Operation will be provided on the entire line, that is, the whole 22.5km, but we'll probably use between eight and 10 trains, and probably between four and six hours of operations in the first few days, increasing that progressively.

Early next year it should be operating at full capacity, that is, carrying up to 450,000 passengers per day.

BNamericas: When do you expect to sign the contract with the operator?

Custode: We expect the contract to be signed at the beginning of October, which would guarantee that the metro will start operations as planned in December.

BNamericas: With the consortium already domiciled in Ecuador, is there no danger of repeating the process, as happened last month?

Custode: I prefer to be cautious, because unexpected things can always happen, but right now we're moving forward normally with the company and there are no difficulties like the previous ones, but there are always risks.

However, I want to be emphatic in pointing out that the company Metro de São Paulo hasn't been ruled out. In the event that the negotiations with the first proponent don't come to a successful conclusion, according to the specifications, we would have to go to the second one.

I repeat that we're working normally with the selected consortium, but absolute certainty in these processes can only be achieved with signed contracts.

BNamericas. So the process is still in the preparatory stage?

Custode: We're still in the preparatory stage, which is taking place outside of Ecuador's public procurement portal.

The contractual stage has already been done within the portal and it requires several documents, including budget certification and approval, a favorable ruling from the comptroller of the nation and the resolution to start the process.

In the contractual stage, the offer can no longer be changed and if the company doesn't want to sign the contract, it can have a legal penalty as a failed successful bidder, which would prevent the bidder from being contracted again in Ecuador for a certain time, since this stage is totally official.

We believe, however, that things will continue to move forward until the respective contract is signed.