BRAZIL: The government of São Paulo state has postponed the tender for a 30-year concession to operate an inter-city passenger service between São Paulo and Campinas.
The state’s Transport Secretariat had been planning to publish the tender in December 2021, but it said that a delay was needed to incorporate suggestions received during the public consultation process which concluded in October last year.
São Paulo Governor João Doria told local media that the tender was now scheduled for publication in March, after which a bidding auction is due to be held within 120 days. Signature of the contract with a concessionaire is expected by December. The tender notice is reportedly being finalised by the Metropolitan Transport Department before approval is sought from the Public-Private Partnerships Management Committee.
The concessionaire will be expected to invest up to R$8∙6bn in the project, which will require upgrading and resignalling of the 101 km line between Barra Funda station in São Paulo and Campinas. The aim is to launch inter-city services within four to seven years after contract signing.
Three service levels are proposed. The top category would be ‘Expresso TIC’, with trains covering the trip between São Paulo and Campinas in 1 h 4 min, including a single intermediate call at Jundiaí. Up to 13 million passengers a year are expected by 2050.
With traffic forecast at 43 million trips a year, the ‘Intermetropolitano TIM’ service would run between Francisco Morato and Campinas and make intermediate stops at six locations. At Francisco Morato these trains would connect with an extended Line 7 suburban service to be operated by CPTM.
- The federal government closed its consultation on a National Rail Passenger Transport Policy on January 28. The policy will define how passenger rail could offer an alternative transport mode for Brazilians and will put forward guidelines for formulating a business model for the market.
