The United States will make a new load train line in Guatemala

Guatemala could reactivate in the future the railway rail system with the support of international cooperation. That was one of the results after the visit made by a mission of the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army (USACE), last week, for the analysis of the critical infrastructure.

Irene Flores, general manager of Ferrovías, confirmed that the economic and financial feasibility of the railway circuits for cargo transport will be analyzed and that a feasibility study will be done for which about US $ 10 million will be allocated.

This study, he said, will be done with “high technology.”

In other parts of the road there is a slope path, “so, technically, the capacities of that path to be able to implement loader rail transport transport,” he said.

In this context, Usace’s technical mission presented the diagnosis and findings in this first phase of the railway network to President Bernardo Arévalo, during the closing of the visit, last Friday, in the National Palace of Culture, in which the willingness to continue with the phases of the project, which include the exchange of information between the parties involved, design.

The model would be similar to that implemented between the USACE and the Ministry of Defense (Mindef) for the expansion and modernization of the Port Company Quetzal (EPQ) in Escuintla, whose acceptance letter was signed last Thursday. In that event, the United States ambassador to Guatemala, Tobin Bradley, advanced in his speech the interest of supporting in reactivating the rail system.

The reactivation would be for passengers and load, in addition to the riel or closure train that will operate in the capital, using the right to connect South Center with North Center on a route of about 20 km.

The rail network in Guatemala is equivalent to about 800 kilometers.

Representatives of the Ministries of Communications, Finance, Fegua, Ferrovías and other institutions, as well as Ambassador Bradley. It would be expected to reach an agreement in the future between the two countries to start what would be considered a megaproject.

Diagnosis and proposal

One of the first findings and results of the Usace mission, after having made field visits, is the current state of the railway corridor, which showed that the rail network has been abandoned for several decades.

Equipment and machinery that do not reflect the reality of the modern rail system, as well as obvious damage to the infrastructure where the train previously traveled, as in the road alignments or in the curves, are of the most notable findings.

“The railway line in Guatemala is feasible from the technical point of view to implement rail transport projects and from the point of view of the Government of Guatemala and the usufruct that the main thing is to take advantage of the railway corridor for cargo transport,” Flores explained.

The first diagnosis from the technical vision “is to understand that, if the current layout responds to modern load transport technologies,” he said.

Guatemala has not developed railway projects in decades, because, according to the directive of that entity, a wear of the route by natural themes has been generated, such as the impact of tropical storms, change in river basins, hydrological and topographic conditions that have caused the path to deteriorate.

In other places there is a slope transo “so technically, the capabilities of that path to be able to implement load rail transport” must be analyzed.

The social element was also analyzed, and as there is no train circulation, there are unauthorized occupants, and in some municipalities it was identified that formal constructions have been developed on the road “so it is a big problem and challenges,” Flores added.

To the diagnosis, environmental aspects are added, and the Usace experts implement projects of great magnitudes and know about management.

It was recognized in the appointment that the country does not have rail projects and what existed has been lost due to the abandonment of the railway line, in addition to that there are no operating experts, in services, and marketing. In conclusion, the capacities of the public and private sector are overcome, which is one of the aspects when talking about a reactivation of a project of that magnitude.

Support support

Flores explained that in a week of the mission, all the required information could not be shared, so there will be more meetings, visits and monitoring to process the data and define the support that will be provided in reactivating the rail system.

“It is in the position of supporting the country and that is very good because in these megaprojects in Guatemala there is no experience of managing not only the technical but of everything that entails and that precisely the body of engineers of the United States Army to that is dedicated. They have that competition and capabilities for Guatemala,” said Flores, remembering that Ferrovías participates in those meetings for having the usufruct.

“There is openness for an agreement to advance information and design of what would be as facing these projects,” he reiterated.

Connection analysis

It was also agreed that the economic and financial feasibility of the railway circuits for cargo transport, which may well be with Mexico or El Salvador in the Pacific, will be analyzed, such as the connection with the National Port Company Santo Tomás de Castilla in Izabal, or with the EPQ. A feasibility study will be carried out for which about US $ 10 million will be allocated.

For René Muñoz Barnoya, business consultant in logistics, the multimodal transport system in many countries works very well and the need in Guatemala is still very large.

The transport of loading through trains can be a solution, if the strokes of Puerto Barrios are used for the city of Guatemala, which at the time worked and that can be of an important help if it is reactivated. “Transport to Atlantic ports One of its limitations is the more than 300 kilometers and only road can be complicated,” he explained.

He considered that, when this route was reactivated, load transport and import would be very easy.

Metro Rail and Cercanías Train

During the presentation, the USACE approached the Rail Metro project or Light Train of Cercanías in Guatemala City, in a section 20.5 kilometers, and it was confirmed that there is also openness and interest to support, as it is part of all railway projects.

In this case there was a first visit, and the transfer of information and diagnoses has been completed, as well as exchange of potential solutions to reach a possible agreement in these works. In this project there are already feasibility studies.

In the Cercanías train it was mentioned that technical support will continue to be “land” in a proposal and program.