The operation and maintenance of the bullet train can end up in the hands of the Federal Government. Due to the difficulty in getting the private sector to enter into a commitment to take on a string of risks associated with the operation, the Brazilian Presidency is now considering passing on to Etav, a state company set up to be a partner in the development, a greater part of the responsibility for the bullet train that shall connect the cities of Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
In the initial model of the tender, which was a flop, the state company would enter as a partner of the contractors and also the company supplying the bullet-train technology. Etav’s participation in the management of the business would be limited. Now, the Government is considering the expansion of the participation of the state company.
The State has also observed that one of the options is that of finding a private partner to operate the track in partnership with the state company. This company, a closed-capital limited company, where the Brazilian Government shall have the majority of the shares, had its establishment authorized in May, after the approval of the Bill of Law by Congress.
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The definition of the operator of this track shall be made in the first phase of the tender process, which should be at the start of 2012. This state company shall be associated with the Ministry for Transport and shall also have regulation of the details of its activities. The Law which sets up the company plans that Etav may manage and exploit the assets for high-speed rail travel, when applicable, and also be responsible for other tasks like getting environmental licenses. The company would also be responsible for any expropriation.
The possibility that Etav could operate the bullet train or other high-speed rail tracks is admitted on an exceptional basis, in the event that the operator may go bankrupt, for example. However, the law also plans the participation of the company as a minority partner or shareholder in other societies.
In the original model, Etav would already bear costs of R$ 3.4 billion, mainly with expenses incurred by compulsory purchases. In the new model as proposed, the state participation could be higher.
On the goods route. The formula used on Monday by the ANTT to get the bullet train off the ground is by no means new. It follows the logic behind the model that shall be used in the goods rail transport sector, with the figure of the company that takes care of infrastructure and the maintenance of the track and the operator of the line. The difference is that, differently from the case of goods transport which shall admit several different companies using the line, the bullet train shall have only one operator. It is this company that should take on the risk of demand.
However, the investors still have several doubts about the Government plans. They do not know, for example, how the connection between the first and the second tender shall be established. If the price of the project is higher than the price as set in the current tender, who shall pay for the difference?, this is the main question asked by sources linked to the project.
In addition, it is not known who shall pay the expenses incurred with the executive project, which shall cost about 5% of the total value of the project. Shall this cost be included in the price of the companies participating in the first stage?, asks the president of the São Paulo State Association of Public Work Businesspeople (Associação Paulista de Empresários de Obras Públicas – Apeop), Luciano Amadio.
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