The appearance of the railroad and the expansion of its infrastructure marked a point and apart. It was the beginning of a new era of mobility for people and, above all, for goods. However, it did not develop at the same speed worldwide. The US prioritized goods against travelers, while Europe, Japan or China focused on population movement. In Latin America, history is somewhat more complicated, but they want to catch up with dozens of projects and billions under their arm.
It is already considered as the railway reborn in Latin America, and China has a lot to say.
Difficulties. Talking about Latin America as a single entity is wrong, but there are elements that many of their countries share, and one is the topography. They are territories that have great natural obstacles such as mountains and jungles that would have to be overcome. They also have a large geographical dispersion, which raises the costs when connecting more distant and isolated regions. It is a very different situation from that of the great European or American plains.
Priorities. There are not only logistics problems: priorities when developing the first networks were not the current ones. Instead of thinking about ways of bringing people from one place to another with ease or creating large merchandise nuclei that nourish with a large railway network, many of the lines were born with a very concrete objective: connect agricultural or mining farms with export ports.
The priority was to move the material outside the country, so a comprehensive network was not designed (in many cases) that moved goods and passengers between large cities or countries, leaving unconnected systems that are not very useful for internal transport. Obviously, privatization, political conflicts and state weakness fragmented all plans, causing a long -term lack of vision, in some cases, which prevented the optimal development of networks.
Change of course. For example, Argentina, Mexico or Brazil lived the railway boom at the beginning of the 20th century, but once that period spent, many systems came into decline and succumbed to disconnection. However, things are changing. One of the greatest examples is the Mayan Train, the great tourist project of Mexico that, using ancient tours, sought to create a tour of some of the largest archaeological treasures in the country to put them in value and foster tourism without heating their heads with trips.
It is not the only project. Recently, the administration of Claudia Sheinbaum said he plans to launch about 3,000 kilometers of roads for passenger transport, connecting the main cities of the interior of Mexico with Texas and Arizona.
In other countries such as Argentina -16 billion dollars in modernization of roads with financing of coffee and Chinese companies-, Chile and Peru -with the corridor of the Peruvian coastal network and subway and tram projects -or Colombia, steps are also being taken for that modernization, but if Mexico handles one of the largest projects, that of Brazil is not far behind.
Latin America is dreaming big. There are multiple rail initiatives. Most countries seek to improve and modernize their rail systems to build non -pollutant networks, “Héctor Varela, CAF Transport Specialist
Colossal. It is estimated that the Latin American giant has 50 planned projects for those who will need 81,6 billion dollars and, in addition to Metro projects, highlights the expansion of its passenger network and something that compares with the Panama Canal, but of the trains. The first, the country wants to expand its transport network of 2,007 kilometers to 4,500 kilometers by 2054.
bioceanic ferment. On the other hand, we have a project that has become one of the most ambitious in South America. The Bioceanic Ferrovia, or Bioceanic Railway Corridor, will be a line that will link Pacific and Atlantic connecting the port of Santos in Brazil with that of Bayóvar in Peru. It will cross key territories from Brazil, Bolivia and Chile with a total of 3,700 kilometers of roads and with possible ramifications to Paraguay and Argentina.
The objective is to transport more than 10 million tons of goods per year (with the focus on agricultural product and strategic goods such as minerals). It is that “Panama channel by train” that will help reinforce trade between these countries, but that will also allow China to move rapid merchandise to and from Brazil.
In fact, China plays a central role in both financing and in the conception of megaproject, since it is a way of strategically positioning itself in the region.
Challenges and pocket. In total, it is estimated that Latin America has 155 rail projects on the table, with an estimated investment of 384,000 million dollars until 2050. As we read in Bnamericas, in addition, this need for money is distributed quite equitably among the different countries:
- Brazil would need 81,600 million dollars.
- Colombia 74.2 billion dollars.
- Peru about 63.9 billion dollars.
- Mexico another 63,200 million dollars.
These are the estimates of the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, but also of money, land and climatic conditions will be a challenge. In recent months, in one of the segments the works had to be paralyzed due to rainfall that exceeded 1,000 milliliters, but in addition, very mountainous areas will have to be crossed that will make construction difficult, although it is estimated that some sections will begin operating in 2028.
Likewise, taking into account that it is an unprecedented work, colossal interstate coordination is also required that can be affected if there are changes of government and a last minute revenue.
Images | Terra Chillán, the Guille!
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