Uruguay Rail Strategy and Priority Projects Overview

Uruguay is now turning a broad rail vision into concrete projects, as ministers back a package of priority upgrades to strengthen freight flows, port access, and regional passenger links.

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

Uruguay Infrastructure Priorities in the New Plan

Uruguay continues to refine its national railway masterplan, and senior officials have started to single out the first projects that should move ahead. They present this short list as a practical way to modernise freight corridors while keeping regional passenger links alive.

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The Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MOTP) has earmarked $US 200m through 2029, and the money will go into a mix of rehabilitation, new connections, and safety systems. For a relatively small network, that level of funding represents a serious attempt to stabilise key routes before problems become more expensive to fix, as reported by Rail Journal.

Transport minister Lucía Etcheverry outlined the approach to the Senate Finance and Budget Committee, and she stressed that the masterplan itself is still being finalised. Even so, she argued that MOTP cannot wait for a perfect document when bottlenecks already slow trains and, frankly, frustrate shippers.

At the same hearing, Waverley Tejera, head of the national rail directorate, explained why the Río Negro railway bridge sits at the top of the list. He called the structure a major bottleneck and noted that the flagship Central Railway project did not cover it, so the ministry now treats the bridge as a separate, urgent job.

In his view, leaving the bridge as it is would cap the value of the entire Montevideo–Paso de los Toros corridor. The route ties northern producers to the capital, and any long-term restriction there risks throttling future rail freight just when demand starts to recover.

Tejera also highlighted plans for a new connection between the Central Railway and the state-owned La Teja refinery, which links on to fuel storage in Durazno. The line may look like a short industrial spur on a map, but it underpins energy security because it allows heavier flows to move by rail instead of road, a point also underlined in Rail Journal’s coverage.

Uruguay Rail Investments to Support Freight and Regions

Another investment priority focuses on heavy maintenance between Paso de los Toros and Rivera, a corridor that underwent rehabilitation in 2019 but has seen deferred upkeep since 2021. Tejera warned that, without renewed work, the line could slide back toward the condition that originally triggered the upgrade.

This section carries freight from northern Uruguay and also hosts the passenger service between Tacuarembó and Rivera, so its decline would hit both cargo owners and local travellers. As one planner put it, “we can see the cliff coming” if maintenance continues to lag behind actual use.

MOTP also intends to reopen the 290 km line between Peñarol in Montevideo and José Pedro Varela, which closed in 2012 when passenger trains stopped running. More than 60% of the country’s rice production lies along this route, and shippers have pushed for a rail alternative to long-haul trucking to the capital.

Officials believe that bringing the line back into service will give agricultural exporters a second option for reaching Montevideo. It should also spread traffic more evenly across the network, because bulk flows that now rely on the road system could shift, at least in part, to rail.

In parallel, the ministry is working with the National Ports Administration on a new southern rail connection to the Port of Montevideo. The aim is to ease last-mile congestion, shorten transfer times, and keep the port competitive as a regional gateway for containers and bulk cargo.

Tejera added that MOTP will roll out signalling upgrades and automated level-crossing protection on core corridors, and these technologies should improve both safety and reliability. Modern train control makes it easier to run more services on the same tracks, and it reduces the risk of incidents that can wipe out the benefits of other investments.

He openly acknowledged that fixed operating costs on the Uruguayan network remain high, but he insisted that the answer lies in using the system better rather than shrinking it. In an interview with El Observador, he described the ministry’s goal as meeting existing demand and “creating the conditions for the railway to become a viable tool for production and for our people.”

Tejera also confirmed that Uruguay continues to work with Argentina and Brazil to make regional rail traffic viable. Stronger cross-border links would allow exporters to reach more markets by rail, and over time that could justify further upgrades beyond the current $US 200m programme.

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