CHILE: National railway EFE Trenes de Chile has signed a US$470m civil works contract to reconstruct the first section of the Santiago – Batuco railway to support suburban rail operations.
The contract announced on August 25 was signed with the Constructora Gran Andes consortium, which is comprised of China Railway Construction Corp and its subsidiaries CR22 and CRCEB. The consortium has also worked on Santiago metro lines 5, 6 and 7. EFE says it is the largest contract in its history.
The first section covers the reconstruction of the at-grade railway from Batuco to a location in Santiago south of the bridge over the River Mapocho.
Works comprise the construction of six stations, including Quilicura, where interchange will be provided with Santiago metro Line 3’s Ferrocarril station.
Seven bridges are also to be built, including one above the River Mapocho, as well as 12 pedestrian and five road level crossings. Two tracks will be provided for passenger trains, and one for freight.
EFE expects works to start in December and the start of revenue services between Batuco and Quilicura to follow in 2030.
EFE is to call for tenders for the tunnelled section of the route between the point south of the Mapocho Bridge and Quinta Normal station on metro Line 5 by the end of the year. This section includes two underground stations, one at Matucana on the future metro Line 7, and one at Quinta Normal, where a set of underground platforms for main line trains was built at the same time as the metro station on Line 5, but never fitted out.
The full 26 km Batuco – Santiago Quinta Normal project is forecast to cost US$950m.
The line is expected to be used by 35 million passengers a year. End-to-end journey time is expected to be 24 min, down from the current around 1 h 30 min by bus.
‘Today we are witnessing how our commune is making a true leap in connectivity. It is also a dream of justice come true and a decisive step for our future’, commented Claudio Castro, Mayor of the Renca district in Santiago. ‘For a long time, our commune has been isolated from the development of the region. However, times have changed, and Renca is experiencing an unprecedented revolution in connectivity and a profound urban transformation that is allowing us to attract services that are highly sought after by our community. We want to become an urban hub for the northwestern sector of Santiago.’
- Dig deeper: Read our feature article about the Chilean government’s ambitious passenger rail revival programme in the August 2023 issue of Railway Gazette International.
