Metrofor: Announcement of the East Track This Month

The bidding announcement to choose the company that shall join the State in executing the east track of the Fortaleza Metro will be launched by the end of this month. Construction, budgeted at US$ 1.74 billion, is included as one of the main Multi-Year Plan projects for 2012-2015, presented yesterday.

According to Planning and Management Secretary Eduardo Diogo, a PMI (Proposta de Manifestação de Interesse – Interest Manifestation Proposal) will be released, which is a process used for forming a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). “We release the announcement and whoever is interested in the project brings their proposals, their scenarios, and we analyze it, identifying those that we consider to best meet the needs of the market’s strategic interests, and the governor makes a final decision”, explains Diogo. According to him, there is an enormous chance of the choice being made by December of this year.

Operation and Maintenance

The secretary informs that the PPP will not only involve the track’s implantation, but also its operation and maintenance. Also, he will look carefully at the southern track’s conclusion, as well as the operation and maintenance of this stretch of the eastern track, in addition to the Mucuripe/Parangaba LRV (Light Rail Vehicle). It is a PPP for the city’s subway system, Diogo concludes.

The east track will connect the city center to Edson Queiroz, seeking to meet transport demands for the region where the Universidade de Fortaleza (Unifor), Ceará Events Center and Forum are located. The expectation is that the track will serve 400 thousand people. The information that Metrofor would count on a PPP had been given by governor Cid Gomes, who informed that between US$ 382 and US$ 436 million of the US$ 1.74 billion invested in the project would be used for train and equipment acquisition, such as communication, monitoring and specialized security systems. According to the governor, the headway will be only three minutes. The Fortaleza metro will serve around one million people through three railroad system tracks.

Resources Source

Diogo explains that a large part of the PPA resources will come from the state Treasury, which will total US$ 36.57 billion of the amount (81.6% of the total). But he highlights that alliance viability between the three government spheres, as well as with multilateral public sector financing agencies, non-governmental corporations, and private partnerships will also be necessary for carrying out this plan. Regarding credit operations, the government projects loans worth US$ 3,11 billion for this period.

Proposals

“We release the announcement and whomever is interest in the project brings their proposals,” Eduardo Diogo, State Planning and Management Secretary.