URUGUAY: An agreement to draw-up a master plan to revitalise and modernise the railway system to grow both passenger and freight traffic has been signed by the Ministry of Transport & Public Works, National development agency CND, and South American development bank CAF.
Aims include improving efficiency and sustainability, supporting the country’s industries and enabling the integration of passenger rail into the overall transport system.
The estimated timeframe of the agreement is 18 months. CND will lead the project, and the bank will provide non-reimbursable technical co-operation resources worth US$250 000. Tenders will be called for the provision of consultancy services.
Waverley Tejera, Director of Rail Transport at the ministry, said the ambitions of the agreement signed on May 28 go well beyond just rehabilitating infrastructure or acquiring rolling stock. He said it was about ‘equipping ourselves with a clear, coherent and strategic roadmap’ for sustainability, competitiveness and effectiveness, and creating a long-term strategic vision to guide public policy decisions.
‘This agreement being signed today is the result of a shared commitment and a vision for the future’, he said.
Go deeper: How Uruguay’s railway came to a standstill.
