Santiago-Valparaíso high-speed rail link not in MOP portfolio, but still under study

A project to build a high-speed rail link between Chilean capital Santiago and the port city of Valparaíso has not yet been included in the portfolio of the concessions office of the public works ministry (MOP).

However, Valparaíso region senator Francisco Chahuán of the Renovación Nacional party, said that he hoped for an official announcement on the project soon.

“There are currently two private initiatives being studied at the concessions office, but there is s still no SV [Santiago-Valparaíso] rail project in the [MOP's] portfolio,” a source from the ministry’s concessions office told BNamericas.

The first proposal came in early 2018 from a consortium comprising China Railway Group Limited and Sigdo Koppers, but the former pulled out of the project the following year and Acciona took its place.

The second option was presented in 2019 by a consortium formed by FCC, Agunsa and Talgo.

MOP said that it would chose between these two projects, but studies had to be halted during the pandemic.

Chahuán told journalists that he hoped that an announcement on the project could be made before March 11, when Gabriel Boric takes office as the new president, and that public works minister Alfredo Moreno was open to using the concessions system to carry it out. 

This was in response to comments from the head of state-owned rail firm EFE, Pedro Pablo Errázuriz, who said that a high-speed rail link between the two cities was not a priority and was too expensive as it would cost US$4-5bn, and couldn't be subsidized by the state, even if the concessions system were used.