Brazil opens bidding for high speed rail line
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefBrazil opened the bidding process Tuesday for a 329-mile high speed rail line connecting Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and costing an estimated $19 billion. Nov. 29 as the deadline for bids, and he winner will be announced Dec. 16.
Contenders for the design-build-operate contract include Alstom of France, Siemens of Germany, and Mitsui & Co. of Japan.
The state development bank BNDES will fund up to 60% of the total cost. Brazil’s government will create a company known as ETAV to manage the project and will retain a majority share in the project.
The estimated travel time between Brazil’s two largest cities on the new trains will be just over 1.5 hours, compared to one hour by air and six hours by bus.
