Chile state rail firm hits passenger record

Chilean state rail firm EFE registered a record 6.1mn passengers during May and mobilized 25.8mn users during the first five months 2023, up 20.2% year-on-year, daily El Mercurio reported.

Passenger numbers have been increasing despite interruptions caused by the works on a new bridge across Biobío River, the report added.

Valparaíso’s metro system served 9.4mn users between January and May, the Nos-Estación Central service in Santiago 8.9mn and the Rancagua-Estación Central line 2.9mn. 

During his annual address to congress last week, President Gabriel Boric announced three new passenger services, which are expected to benefit over 1mn users. 

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Argentine waterworks authority Enohsa opened three bids for a  3bn-peso (US$12mn) construction contract for a 24,000m3/d wastewater treatment plan in Buenos Aires province's Pinamar municipality.

José Cartellone Construcciones Civiles bid 8.6bn pesos, C&E Construcciones8.5bn pesos and Apco 4.6bn pesos. Large discrepancies between budget and offers are increasingly common in Argentina.

Two more modules for a total of 48,000m3/d will be added later on, according to project documents. 

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Paraguay keeps opposing a toll Argentina imposed earlier this year on vessels using the Paraguay-Paraná waterway.

In response to a report sent by Argentina, Paraguay’s foreign affairs ministry said in a press release that “from a preliminary analysis it could be verified that there isn’t technical data supplied by Argentina that could account for dredging works that justify the pretended tariff.”

The report was presented before a May 17-19 meeting of representatives of countries that operate the waterway.

Paraguay estimated that the US$1.47/t tariff its vessels pay for using the 1,180km Confluencia-Santa Fe stretch will cost the country US$50mn/y.

Uruguayan port players, meanwhile, claim the toll is an attempt to slow development of Montevideo’s port.