The government of Costa Rica will publish today in the official newspaper La Gaceta the draft of the bidding poster for the Metropolitan Electric Train, one of the campaign promises of President Carlos Alvarado.
From that publication, those interested in participating will have 10 days to analyze the draft, make observations to adjust it and create a final bidding poster for the so-called Fast Passenger Train (TRP) that will then enter the stage of public support hearing.
In this regard, the executive president of the Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (Incofer), Elizabeth Briceño, announced that the next step is to listen to the market, to have the integrating vision of potential bidders, and for that it is necessary to submit the draft of the poster.
On several occasions, the President has stated that the goal is to put the TRP out to tender before concluding its administration, that is, before May 2022, and for that reason they are advancing in this preparatory phase for the opening of the tender, with which the appeals and complaints.
Briceño argued that “the advantage of being appealed to us is that the Comptroller’s Office has to pronounce on the entire cartel. If there is any other facts that also need to be adjusted in the bidding process, we will adjust it at once”.
A major investment for the country
For the Executive President of Incofer, the entire TRP bidding process should take about six months, a project whose investment amounts to 1,533 million dollars, of which 550 million dollars would come from a loan from the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. According to Incofer, the project will be built by a private consortium in a 35-year concession through an international public tender.
The TRP will unite the main cities of the provinces of San José, Cartago, Heredia and Alajuela, which make up the Greater Metropolitan Area, where 60 percent of the slightly more than five million inhabitants of Costa Rica reside.
