Colombia rail revival programme moves into feasibility stage

Colombia rail revival programme is entering a new phase, with the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) launching tenders for contract supervision, preliminary design work and technical feasibility studies across several priority routes, as reported by International Railway Journal.

The procurement drive is intended to help meet President Gustavo Petro’s objective of advancing five priority rail projects before his term ends in August 2026. The priority corridors are the Caribbean–Pacific Interoceanic Line, the La Caro–Central Corridor, Buenaventura–Palmira, Yumbo–Caimalito and Villavicencio–Puerto Gaitán.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

Colombia’s Ministry of Transport estimates total investment for all five projects at Pesos 172 trillion (US$44bn). Transport minister María Fernanda Rojas said the opening of tendering marks “the transition from planning to feasibility,” a shift also discussed in Railway Supply, and a critical step toward rebuilding a national network designed for freight and passenger services.

ANI rail corridor feasibility studies and supervision contracts

ANI expects to award the contracts this month, and work is due to begin by the end of 2025. One package is a contract worth up to Pesos 11.4bn for supervisory services on the Central Corridor railway project. The oversight is intended to ensure the quality and viability of studies that will define the alignment and technical specifications for passenger and freight services between central Colombia and Caribbean ports.

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Another contract, valued at Pesos 91.2bn, will deliver technical feasibility studies for a connection between the Bogotá–Cundinamarca metropolitan area and the Central Corridor, as well as the Buenaventura–Palmira section of the Pacific Corridor. Together, the work covers 393km of railway infrastructure, with tender details set out by Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI).

According to Vanguardia, the route is intended to accommodate both freight and passenger traffic. ANI’s pre-feasibility analysis evaluated three alignment options before selecting the Bogotá–Barbosa–Barrancabermeja corridor as the most cost-effective solution for linking the capital with the north–south La Dorada–Chiriguaná freight corridor.

Central Corridor engineering scope: tunnels and bridges

The proposed alignment comes with substantial civil engineering requirements. Plans call for 94 tunnels totalling 132km—about one-third of the overall route—and 185 bridges with a combined length of 56km. The longest tunnel is expected to be 15.6km, while the largest bridge is planned at 3.2km.

Pacific Corridor upgrades and other priority sections

Tendering this month also includes a contract worth up to Pesos 7bn to provide supervisory services for upgrading the Pacific Corridor between the port of Buenaventura and Palmira, intended to increase freight capacity.

Feasibility studies and design work for the Yumbo–Caimalito–La Felisa section of the Pacific Corridor are budgeted at Pesos 26bn, with completion expected in eight months. A related supervisory services contract worth up to Pesos 3bn is intended to ensure compliance with technical and contractual requirements.

The final tender is for a 10-month contract worth up to Pesos 7.7bn to provide technical, administrative and environmental supervision for feasibility studies to build a new line across the Eastern Plains from Villavicencio to Puerto Gaitán.

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