HST should be in full operation by 2020

The high-speed train (HST or bullet train) should be fully operational by 2020. The forecast, updated by Helio Mauro França, Executive Secretary at ANTT (National Agency for Land Transportation), has been announced today (23), while the Secretary provided details of the draft of the notice to bid for selecting the vehicle technology and operator. The document, still not finished, will remain open for suggestions during the several open court scheduled until September 24th.

As the former bid attempts – which were looking for selecting groups interested in conducting the whole project – did not raise the interest of the companies, the federal government decided for splitting the process into two parts: one aimed at selecting the parties responsible for the train manufacture and system operation, and other to defining the company in charge of the project construction.

The auction must occur on May 29th next year, and the winner company or consortium will be that presenting the best offer, by considering the grant value vs. construction value ratio of tunnels, bridges and viaducts, in addition to the rolling stock (the train itself), including technology transfer, maintenance and operation of the vehicle. “This phase does not include the construction of stations and installation of rails,” informed the ANTT Secretary.

França said that the grant value considered by the agency is $ 33 per train-kilometer and should be paid quarterly by the winner company or consortium. According to him, HST operators with experience less than ten years in this type of vehicle will not be accepted, and neither companies that have been declared responsible for serious accidents in the last ten years.

“The bullet train should be 100% operational by 2020,” assured França. In the project onset, the completion was expected for the Soccer World Cup 2014, to be disputed in Brazil. The winner group will be granted with concession for 40 years, from the effective bullet train operation startup date. The return rate for shareholders investing in the enterprise should be 12.9%, and the internal return rate, 6.32%.

As a partner in the project, Empresa de Planejamento e Logística (EPL) will have 10% shareholding of the enterprise. The state-owned company will be responsible for the presentation of the HST executive project and selection of the company in charge of constructing, in a further phase, the infrastructure required to start the bullet train operation.