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MeneamePeruvian rail concessionaire Ferrocarril Transandino (FTSA) is evaluating extending its railway to the Tirapata-Puerto Maldonado-Iñapari area, on the border with Brazil, according to the firm's president Rómulo Guidino, state news agency Andina reported.
The estimated investment would be around US$1bn, Guidino added.
FTSA runs the railway connecting the Matarani port, in Arequipa region, to Cuzco and on to the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu.
The objective of the extension is to provide a railway to channel Brazilian soy exports to the Far East, replacing the current routes from Brazil-Panama-Far East or Brazil-Cape Horn-Far East.
FTSA directors have been in talks with Brazilian soy producers from Mato Grosso state to evaluate their interest in the initiative, Andina reported.
Since 1999, FTSA has invested almost US$50mn in improvements to its 30-year railway concession and plans to invest approximately US$29mn in 2009, the report said.
The proposal to build a railway connection to Brazil would also boost new industrial and trade possibilities, as the area has high agricultural, mining, forestry, power and tourist potential.
FETAB PROJECT
At the same time, the president of the bi-national council for trade and integration between Peru and Brazil (Capebras), Miguel Vega Alvear, said FTSA is developing a proposal to extend its transcontinental project - which seeks to connect the Brazilian Atlantic coast with the Peruvian Pacific - towards the south to interconnect Puno region's Juliaca, and Mollendo and Matarani in Arequipa region, the report said.
The transcontinental railway - known as Fetab - would stretch 5,600km, of which 1,594km would be built in Peru, running through regions Ucayali, Huánuco, San Martín, Amazonas, Cajamarca and Piura.
In March this year, the government declared the project of national interest. However, to date the transport and communications ministry has not written up the regulations.
Once the legislation is drawn up, investors can request a temporary concession from the state agency for the promotion of private investment ProInversión to begin the studies needed to carry out the project, Vega Alvear said in previous reports.
The construction of the initiative starts in Boqueiráo da Esperanca-Cruzeiro do Sul, in Brazil's Acre state, and ends in the Paita and Sechura ports in Peru's Piura. The railway would interconnect with the Cerro de Pasco rail line that leads to Callao port.
Vega Alvear said Fetab is designed as a private initiative but that excessive bureaucracy is delaying the project.
Fetab is expected to greatly facilitate trade with Japan, China and South Korea.
