Colombia roundup: New deadline for rail PPP bids; highway contract awarded

Colombia has extended until December 20 from November 14 the deadline for offers in the tender for the La Dorada-Chiriguaná PPP freight rail project.

Infrastructure agency ANI said in a statement the decision was in response to requests from the four interested companies.

According to the new schedule, the award date will be February 13, 2025.

The project is valued at 3.4tn pesos (US$810m), of which an estimated 2.6tn pesos are for capex and the rest for operations.

La Dorada-Chiriguaná is the first railway PPP in the country and is considered key to reactivating the segment.

The tender includes the construction, rehabilitation, improvement, maintenance and operation of the rail corridor between La Dorada in Caldas department and Chiriguaná in Cesar, as well as the commissioning, operation and maintenance of rolling stock.

The winning concessionaire will also have to construct an administrative building, an operations control center, two workshops for train maintenance and a cargo transfer center, among other works.

The corridor has transported 143,348t so far this year, ANI said in the release dated Friday. The government expects that in the medium and long term some 2.8Mt/y will use the route.

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY

Colombian highway authority Invías awarded the Unión Temporal Vías Calarcá-Cajamarca group the 221bn-peso contract for operation and maintenance of the Cruce de la Cordillera Central route.

The JV is made up of Ingeniería y Vías SAS BIC with a 35% stake, Megaproyecto Vial Siglo XXI SAS with 35% and Ingdecol SAS with 30%.

The contract runs between November 2024 and July 31, 2026. It includes the operation and maintenance of the tunnels and roads, as well as attention to critical sites on the Calarcá-Túnel de La Línea-Cajamarca corridor, and the Cajamarca-Alto de la Línea-Calarcá corridor.

The route connects the center with the west of the country, passing through the departments of Valle del Cauca, Quindío, Tolima and Cundinamarca, and the city of Bogotá.