Government plans to bid the HST after elections

The government hopes to bid the high speed train (HST) connecting Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after the presidential elections in 2014, says Minister of Transports César Borges, in a conference call with the press on Thursday.

Campinas, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have a demand for many passengers and only one high-speed system will ensure that in future we can meet those passengers. So I hope we have the high speed train at the latest in 2014, after the electoral process, or in 2015, he said.

In August, the government postponed the bid of the controversial bullet train to avoid the process had only one competitor, and amid allegations of irregularities in bids for São Paulo Metro and the Federal District involving companies likely interested in the bullet train.

We have to design a model that attracts the largest number of participants. The model we granted this year attracted one single company. As we would have one participant only, Alstom, and this company was being questioned in São Paulo, the federal government thought it best to continue tweaking this model, he said.

Asked over railroad bids, which considers the priority for 2014, Borges reiterated that he hopes to hold the first bid in February.

We will bid (the section between Açailândia/Maranhão and Barcarena/Pará) probably in mid-February. We’ve had some questions from the Union’s Court of Accounts (TCU) on the model (of concession). We have given the necessary explanations and we find that that model is the more correct, which will meet the free way to use these new railroads.

Borges said he would like to attract more foreign companies to highways and railroads concessions in Brazil.

We have in the road sector already the presence of Spanish companies and would like to have other companies operating in all sectors of concessions, road or railroad.

This year, the government held three bids of highway concessions, and should hold two more on December 17th and 27th. All bids already placed, depreciation obtained was kept at 42%, in the case of the BR-050 (Goiás – Minas Gerais), and at 52% both for BR-163 (Mato Grosso) and BR-060/153/262 (Goiás – Distrito Federal – Minas Gerais).

I do not know if we will henceforth be able to maintain these very high depreciation rates. If we succeed, it will be very good. But we will always look for market attractiveness and low tariffs, the minister said.

Asked about the situation of the roads for the World Cup, Borges stated that the mobility of passengers by road is ensured.