Tender launched for Mexico City's first cable car line

Mexico City's transport regulator ORT launched an international tender for the contract to build line No. 1 of Cablebús, the first cable car system in the capital.

The deadline to purchase the tender documents is March 12, while a visit to the project site has been scheduled for March 13.

A clarification meeting has been penciled in for March 19, and the deadline to submit bids is April 15.

The winner will be announced in May, with the contract expected to be signed within the following 10 days.

Construction is scheduled to begin on May 27 and be completed by December 1, 2020.

Experience of at least five contracts for similar works is required to participate, and companies can bid individually or as part of consortiums.

A call for expressions of interest in the contract was issued on March 5.

Some of the companies interested include La Peninsular, Doppelmayr, Gami Ingeniería e Instalaciones, ICA Constructora and Tradeco Industrial, local paper El Universal reported.

Cablebús will be over 34km long and is expected to have four lines.

The funds for the project were approved by the city's finance ministry at the end of January.

LINE NO. 1

The first line, which at 9.4km is expected to be the system's longest, will link the hilly neighborhood of Cuautepec to Indios Verdes, both in the city's northern Gustavo A. Madero district.

One of the line's terminals will be located near the Indios Verdes clinic. The other stations will be at IPN's ESIME campus, La Pastora, which will also serve as a multimodal transfer station, Campos Revolución and Cuautepec.

A shorter branch will link Campos Revolución to the Chiquihuite hill, which is home to several radio and TV transmitters, as well as other telecommunications equipment.

The project is expected to benefit some 326,000 residents who will see commuting times cut from 77 to 46 minutes. Although authorities are still defining how much to charge for the service, it is expected to be significantly lower than current transportation costs.

For more information on the tender, in Spanish, click here.