Asunción commuter train begins journey with approval of lawmakers

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Statement from the Ministry of Public Works and Communications of Paraguay

In the session this Wednesday, December 20, the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill “Which establishes special and financing provisions for the execution and implementation of the Commuter Train Project in the section between the city of Asunción and the city of Ypacaraí.

It thus already has the approval of both chambers of congress, and now goes to the executive branch for promulgation, thus beginning its journey with the engineering study for this work that aims to provide modern and efficient transportation to the metropolitan area.

Currently, there is a 43km right of way, of which 90% has been released, as clarified by lawyer Facundo Salinas, owner of Ferrocarriles del Paraguay SA (Fepasa).

“The need for the entire metropolitan area to give dignity to citizens, I believe that this will probably be a source of pride for Paraguayans to return to that time of splendor of Don Carlos Antonio López of having the only railroad. The train only brings benefits, it is a means of transportation that in terms of investment is an important effort on the part of the State, but through the positive impact, it pays for itself,” Minister Claudia Centurión told legislators yesterday.

With approval, an engineering study will be carried out that will review the impact, improvement in the social area, frequencies, stops, feasibility analysis, among other points. All this with the objective of having certainty of the order of investment to raise it again before the national congress.

“Today a project is estimated to be around US$600mn, but this is what has to be reviewed based on engineering and the numbers are made more detailed to have the real investment order. None of this will be advanced without going through the national congress again,” he confirmed.

We should also recall the words of legislator Cristina Villalba, who pointed out that this project will give families the opportunity to plan their lives and provide mental health, since, by providing quality public transportation, a father who gets up to work has the possibility of having coffee at home with their children and then being able to share time with their family.