Colombia readies interoceanic railway for feasibility stage

Colombia is concluding the prefeasibility stage of the Andes-Orinoquía rail project (Villavicencio-Puerto Gaitán connection) and an interoceanic project.

Both are about to enter the feasibility phase, said transport minister María Constanza Garcia.

“In these two projects we’re closing the prefeasibility phases to move on to the next phase, which is to carry out studies and designs at the feasibility level,” García said during an event.

At the same event, the director of transport infrastructure planning unit UPIT, Martha Coronado, said the interoceanic rail link, which is planned for Chocó department, will be 240km long.

According to Coronado, the prefeasibility study included the possibility of locating two deepwater ports in Cupica and Juradó connected to the rail line on the Pacific coast and reaching the Gulf of Urabá in the Caribbean Sea.

The project is expected to benefit more than 200,000 people and boost the development of the region, Coronado said.

The exact cost of the project is not known but various estimates range from US$7bn to US$13bn.

In April, then transport minister William Camargo said the project, which is considered by the government of Gustavo Petro as an alternative to the Panama Canal, had aroused interest from several companies from various countries.

On its website, Colombian company Conarcon says it has submitted to infrastructure agency ANI a private initiative to build, operate and maintain for 50 years railway-port infrastructure that directly connects the Pacific Ocean with the Atlantic.

According to the company, the project involves two ports located in Chocó: one in Cupica Bay on the Pacific coast and another in Acandí in the Gulf of Urabá.

The project would include rail access to the ports and a rail corridor between them, to create an interoceanic crossing.

Regarding the Andes-Orinoquía rail connection, Coronado said it will be 194km long and able to transport 254,000t/y between 2030 and 2080.

The Petro government, which ends in August 2026, has an ambitious infrastructure agenda, in which the rail network, including passenger intercity and freight trains, plays a big part.

The rail corridors that are in operation are La Dorada-Chiriguaná, Bogotá-Belencito and Chiriguaná-Santa Marta.

Petro's goal, by the end of his term, is to award rail projects worth around US$6.6bn.

Progress is expected to be made by August 2026 on projects such as the Central and Pacific rail corridors and the Villavicencio-Puerto Gaitán and Buenaventura-Palmira lines.

The current national development plan includes the reactivation of 1,817km of the rail network.

Colombia has a 3,533km rail network, of which only 1,024km are in operation and transport 11% of national freight.