NEWSROOM QCOSTARICA — The train will travel at 300 kilometers per hour (186 mph) and will cover the distance between Mexico City and Querétaro in 58 minutes. The project will cost 58.95 billion pesos (US$4.3 billion dollars).
A consortium led by China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) won a tender for a high-speed passenger train linking Mexico City and Querétaro.
The consortium includes national firms such as Prodemex, Constructora y Edificadora GIA, Constructora Teya and GHP Infraestructura Mexicana as well as CSR Corporation Ltd.
It was also the only bid out of a field of more than a dozen international firms such as Siemens of Germany, Alstom of France and Bombardier of Canada, along with ICA, Promotora y Operadora de Infraestructura, Alstom, Constructora de Proyectos Viales de México, S Operadora CISA, COMSA, Elecnor México, Abengoa and Ingenieros en Mantenimiento Aplicadosmany of which had asked for additional time to prepare bids. But the government declined to budge from its two-month time limit.
Transport Secretary Gerardo Ruiz Esparza defended that action by saying that on average such projects receive only two bids. He promised the project would be transparent, and that an international auditor would be engaged to monitor progress. Reports on that progress will be published online at a dedicated website.
The winning bid was accompanied by an offer of Chinese financing, which the government also accepted. That financing will represent 85% of the project’s cost at a fixed interest rate of 3.22% over 20 years, with a grace period of two and a half years.
The train will be able to carry 23,000 passengers a day.
Source: Mexico News Daily; El Universal (Mexico); Sinembargo.mx
