RegioTram

Summary

The Bogotá suburban rail (Spanish: Tren de cercanías de Bogotá), also known as RegioTram, is a transportation project to create a mass and rapid transport system to connect Bogotá with surrounding cities. The railways of the former Bogotá Savannah Railway (which have carried no passenger traffic since 1990) will be rebuilt to create a new tram-train network. Three lines are planned, to the West, North and South of Bogotá.

RegioTram de Occidente
Overview
OwnerGobernación de Cundinamarca - Bogotá D.C.
Area servedBogotá savanna
LocaleBogotá, Colombia
Transit typeCommuter rail/tram train
Number of stations17
Operation
Operation will start2024[1]
Operator(s)China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation
Technical
System length39.6 km (24.6 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge

Planned lines edit

Name Route Opening date Length Number of stations Notes
RegioTram de Occidente
Estación Central (Calle 26. Av Caracas) - Facatativá
 2024[1]  36.9 km  17  Contracted.[2]
RegioTram del Norte
Estación de la Sabana - Zipaquirá    48 km  15  In design.[3]
RegioTram del Sur
Estación de la Sabana - Soacha
  ---  ---  ---  In project

RegioTram de Occidente edit

The first Regiotram line, Regiotram de Occidente, will connect Bogotá with the municipalities of Mosquera, Madrid, Funza, Sector El Corzo and Facatativá in the department of Cundinamarca.

In February 2019, a Spanish consortium of Ardanuy Ingeniería and FGC was awarded a contract to provide project consultancy and supervision services for this first tram-train line.[4] By August that same year, tendering for the line was launched by the Colombian government with a projected 2024 opening.[1] In January 2020, the contract for construction and operation of Regiotram del Occidente was signed with Chinese company CCECC, with a concession of 26 years.[5]

The line will be 39.6 km (24.6 mi) long and serve 9 stations in Bogotá and 8 in Cundinamarca. It will broadly follow the existing railway corridor. However, instead of running to Bogotá La Sabana railway station it will divert to terminate at Calle 26/Avenida Caracas, where it will offer interchange with the Bogotá Metro.[6] Trains will run up to every 6 minutes in peak hours. [7] There is also a possibility of a branch running to El Dorado International Airport.[8]

There will be 18 electric vehicles of electric tram-train design, which will carry up to 884 passengers each at speeds between 28km/h and 70km/h. The line is expected to carry 130,000 passengers daily, or 40m per year. [9]

RegioTram del Norte edit

In August 2019, feasibility studies for the Northern Regiotram were announced, financed by the Prosperity Fund of the United Kingdom and the Government of Cundinamarca, supported by an agreement with Findeter. In May 2020, the studies and design contract for the project was signed. The project involves rebuilding the line from Bogotá to Zipaquirá for both freight and light passenger traffic. It is hoped that the line will open in 2024, with the total project costing US$1.5bn. [10] The line will start at the Centro Comercial Gran Estación in Bogotá, and run for 48 km (30 mi) along the route of the existing railway (used by the Tren Turistico de la Sabana) through Chía and Cajicá to Zipaquirá. It is estimated that it will carry 250,000 passengers per day. [11]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Tendering begins for Bogota RegioTram West concession". International Railway Journal. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Acta de inicio de obras del tren entre Bogotá y Cundinamarca fue firmada". 2020-06-24.
  3. ^ "SITP, Sistema de Transporte Urbano de Bogotá".
  4. ^ "Consultancy contract awarded for Bogota RegioTram project". International Railway Journal. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Firman el contrato para la construcción y operación del Regiotram de Occidente". Gobierno de Colombia. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Estos son puntos de paso del Regiotram en Bogotá". conexioncapital.co. 20 August 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Regiotram". empresa férrea regional. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Colombia apuesta por el tren-tram para el suburbano de Bogotá". enelSubte. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  9. ^ "El Regiotram de Occidente: ligero, eléctrico, sostenible, ¡único!". Semana. 4 November 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Colombia signs Regiotram del Norte supervision contract". International Railway Journal. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Design contract for Bogotá Regiotram del Norte signed". Railway Pro. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2021.

External links edit

  • Tren de cercanías[permanent dead link] - Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano de Bogotá
  • Tren de Cercanías de la Sabana de Bogotá - Study of the project
  • Tren de Cercanías será una realidad en el 2011: Samuel Moreno, retrieved on November 4, 2008.