Engineer Luis Ceiter, MTOP advisor, confirmed the date on which the rail mode will be fully operational.
He Ministry of Transportation and Public Works (MTOP) confirmed that the Central Railway, one of the most important mobility works of recent times in Uruguay, It will be operational in April and fully operational by the end of the first half of 2024.
The news was confirmed by the engineer Luis Ceiter, MTOP advisor during the management of José Luis Falero and part of the steering committee of the Central Railway, in addition to being a former portfolio official; in dialogue with Radio Carve
“We are on the verge of starting the operation in the Central Railway. We are convinced that this is going to be a before and after for the transportation of Uruguay. The railway mode is going to burst into our country with another dynamic, with another reality, with other cargo volumes and it will be a different way of operating, in which there will no longer be a place for that old train,” said Ceiter, and indicated that Uruguay will have a modern railway mode and, also, less pollution.
Although the railway implementation process is still in the testing phase, it is expected that in the coming months this stage of the project will be completed and commercial operations will begin to fully function for the first semester of the year.
Through the paths of Central Railway —works for which the railway freight transport activity was stopped— seven locomotives and 140 wagons will pass only to transport the merchandise of UPM, In the first moment. The company will make about six trips per day, that is, between 21 and 31 trips per week.
Still, there is capacity for other companies to use it, and there are already several private sector stakeholders negotiating with the government to use the rail infrastructure.
The interest of private parties in the Central Railway
According to Ceiter, there are already several companies who have approached the MTOP with interest in using the rail mode that will be inaugurated with the Central Railway, and what will connect Montevideo with improved ports, allowing for increased cargo capacity — after in the last 20 years, cargo transported through Uruguay increased by four, without the available infrastructure being able to accommodate this new need.
“There are several companies interested in the work as well as in the railway operation. We are studying the needs and the alternatives we have to complete the connection of the Central Railway to the dam Big Jumpin order to extend the railway connection with the Argentinian republic, where there is intense commercial rail transport, and from there the possibility of connecting with Paraguay”, indicated the engineer who, in any case, recalled the current administration’s criticism of how the project was directed by the previous management.
Source: Ambito
