US$136 million Electric Train project.

US$136 MILLION ELECTRIC TRAIN PROJECT. The Costa Rican Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT) has invited consulting firms to participate in the International Public Tender No. 03-2004, for the contracting of consulting professional services for the preparation of a Technical, Legal, Financial and Environmental Feasibility Study for the Financing and Management of the San Jose Metropolitan Electric Train Concession Project (TREM). Note: The short deadline of Aug. 3, which was announced in late July, suggests that the MOPT already has in mind a favorite consulting firm. However, this is a major project, which may present other opportunities in the future:

The TREM Project consists of the habilitation of an electric mass transportation system on the existing railroad right-of-way, integrated to the rest of the Grand Metropolitan Area mass transport network, utilizing the latest technology, light railroad train (LRT), double way, automatic signaling, uneven cross, bridges, and multimodal stations. The TREM project will be located in the Provinces of San Jose and Heredia and will cover the territory of six municipalities: Heredia, San Pablo, Santo Domingo, Goicoechea, Tibas and San Jose (Capital);

The project will benefit a population of 52,000 people among the two million people living in the six cities. The first phase of this project will consist of the route between the cities of Heredia and San Jose, for a total distance of 12.5 kms. Future expansion will interconnect the four central provinces of the central valley (Alajuela, Heredia, San Jose and Cartago) in a total railroad network of 66 kilometers long;

The TREM project will require an estimated investment of US$136 million. Possible sources of financing for this project could be the European Bank of Investment, the Central American Bank of Economic Integration (CABEI) and Exportation Credit Agencies. Details: Licda. Rocio Aguilar, Executive Secretary, Consejo Nacional de Concesiones (CNC), Edificio Equs, Segundo Piso, San Jose, Costa Rica. Tel. [phone]. And, for more information on the railroad sector in Costa Rica, contact Mr. Rodrigo Rojas, Commercial Specialist, U.S. Commercial Service--San Jose, at phone: [phone], or at [e-mail].