Colombia Presents Project to Reactivate the Railroad

Colombia is launching a project to revive its railroad system and enhance transportation across different parts of the nation. The government has been planning this for a while. President Petro has proposed various initiatives, including a plan to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by rail through the Choco Department. This aims to provide an alternative to the Panama Canal.

Over 30 years ago, Colombia’s railway company declared bankruptcy, leading to the disappearance of trains as a mode of passenger and cargo transportation. This marked the end of an era for a once crucial transport and communication network in a country known for its challenging landscape.

The Minister of Transportation, William Camargo, announced today a plan to invest approximately 464 billion pesos across five contracts. This investment aims to ensure the smooth functioning of road corridors as the government works on structuring public-private partnership projects.

Announced initiatives encompass the Bogota Regiotram and rail corridors heading north and west, aiming to facilitate travel from the capital to surrounding areas like Funza, Mosquera, Madrid, and Facatativa. These projects are slated for completion by late 2026, barring any unforeseen delays.

Freight transportation by rail

The minister has referred to the need to bet on rail freight transport in preference to road transport. At this moment, the trucks that destroy the Colombian roads are in many cases the only possible alternative for the transportation of cargo within Colombia.

“We will connect the country’s cargo efficiently and generate optimal conditions for logistics and operations. The average investment in the rail mode since 2010 did not exceed 1.8 percent of total annual public investment in contrast to the road mode, which is 77 percent,” stated the Ministry of Transport.

Rail is the safest, cleanest and most efficient transportation system, far surpassing the efficiency of trucks transporting by road. Colombia is decades behind in this respect, as the railroad has been practically non-existent since the crisis of the public company, which closed in 1991.

Created by a government decree in 1954, it unified in a single company the different companies that until then operated in different parts of the national territory. However, at the end of the 1980s, financial problems arose which caused the closure of the company, which had an important impact on national mobility.

New projects announced

In a government communiqué, it is announced that the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) is operating corridors of 1,024 kilometers in length. Among these, the recovery of the so-called Pacific rail corridor, which is 498 kilometers long and connects municipalities such as Buenaventura, Cali, Zarzal and La Tebaida, is targeted. The project includes infrastructure investments in the Buenaventura station, the Cali station and warehouse, and a workshop in Palmira.

The 257-kilometer route between Bogota and Belencito (Boyaca), north of the capital, will also be strengthened. There, the investment will be made to increase its cargo capacity. Among other things, it will seek to install rails and repair locomotives. This route would connect Bogota with Tunja, the capital of the department of Boyaca, rich in agricultural production.

Similarly, the recovery of the La Dorada (Caldas) and Santa Marta section would open an important route for the movement of goods from the Caribbean to the interior of the country, as it already worked in the past.

Energy transition and logistics costs

In this sense, Minister Camargo has pointed out that this mega-project to reactivate the rail service is part of the “government’s energy transition agenda” and aims to “improve logistical costs”. The 1,800 km to be revitalized would facilitate the strategy announced today.

In a conversation with the local television channel City TV, the minister explained that the government’s project aims at both cargo and passenger transport, including a mixed transport option, to connect the Caribbean and the Pacific with Bogota and, from there, open the route to the south of the country.

Camargo’s goal is to rejuvenate rail transport, which has been neglected for over 30 years with little to no action taken by past administrations.

The news comes precisely on the same day that the elimination of the environmental license for the Regiotram project in Bogota has been confirmed, which is an important boost to the progress of this commuter train project.