Roundup: Uruguay green H2 train, Argentine rail corridors, Chile hospital concession

Green hydrogen train 

A study for a green hydrogen-powered train on Uruguay’s Central railroad is advancing, although an initial report is not expected to be completed for another four months.

The study, which is funded by the French government, is being conducted by consortium Sectec, which also signed an MOU with the Uruguayan energy ministry (MIEM) and public works ministry (MTOP) in February.

The idea is for the train to operate initially on a 60km section of the railroad between capital Montevideo and the city of Florida.

The study has five stages, with the first two currently being carried out simultaneously and entailing reference scenarios and mobility system dimensions, the MTOP’s representative for the government’s H2U green hydrogen program told daily El País.

Argentine rail corridors

The provincial governments of Neuquén and Río Negro inked an agreement to promote the development of rail corridors linking their jurisdictions

The deal states that Río Negro rail operator Tren Patagónico will initially handle service provision on the reactivated lines of the Tren del Valle system, which currently only runs for 13km between the city of Neuquén and Plottier municipality, the Neuquén administration said in a release.

The works include reactivating the section of the line between Neuquén and Cipolletti, which has been closed since 2022 after a series of accidents involving trucks crashing into a rail bridge due to surpassing height limits. 

The agreement also mentions the corridor linking Villa Regina municipality in Río Negro province with the Neuquén rail system. 

La Serena hospital

The new contract for the La Serena hospital concession (US$254mn) is set to be signed on Friday, officially putting end to a dispute between concessionaire Acciona and Chile’s public works ministry (MOP) that at one point threatened the continuity of the contract and forced a redraft of the design.

The project will now involve a 125,284m2 structure, as opposed to the 121,000m2 stated in the original contract, local daily El Día reported, citing the agreement between the two parties.

Works are now expected to begin in September, Acciona’s infrastructure director for the Southern Cone, Diego Pini, was reported as saying by the newspaper.