Venezuela: Railways of South America

Are railways possible in South America?

The book “Rieles con futuro. Desafíos para los ferrocarriles de América del Sur”. (Rails with future. Challenges for the railways of South America) was presented today in the Mariscal Antonio José de Sucre Auditorium at the CAF in Caracas. The book was edited by the CAF infrastructure vice presidency, following an exhaustive study of the current situation and the experiences of rail systems in the region, including the their potential as a means of transport from the point of view of integration.

CAF Executive President Enrique García said that the work was a new contribution by the CAF to regional integration and the inclusion of railways in the sectoral analyses of CAF member countries, most of them in South America. South America is a territory are rich in natural resources, with high biological diversity, but visibly fragmented by natural barriers such as cordilleras, rivers, plains, mesas, whose geographical integration requires a global plan to guide the synergic development of transport, telecommunications and energy to bring peoples and markets closer together.

García added that "in line with the interest shown by various countries in including railway development in regional and local analyses, the CAF hopes to contribute through analytical contributions, some of which are contained in this publication, and the inclusion of new projects in the Corporation’s portfolio.

Jorge Kogan, editor of the book, said the one of the objectives of the study was to explore whether a new model of railway survival is applicable and sustainable in Latin America. He said they had reviewed the results achieved by the restructuring of the sector in South America and evaluated the rail sector reforms in other regions of the world.

Kogan said that in South America there was a demand for transport with characteristics that open opportunities for rail systems to play a prominent role. However, he cautioned that the main challenge is to identify strengths and weaknesses, and analyze the situation rationally, in order to guarantee financing for new projects and improvements to existing services so that railways can resume their vital role in the transport system.

To analyze the book’s conclusions and promote an exchange of opinions on the part that railways can play in the development of transport systems and in the economies of the countries of the region, a workshop exclusively for senior officials of railway transport authorities from South American countries will be held in the CAF headquarters on 27 and 29 this month. Representatives of the CAF and other multilateral agencies involved in the region will take part along with specially invited speakers.

Railway development is part of the integrated agenda that the CAF is executing in the infrastructure sector, an agenda that includes financing ambitious transport projects in favor of regional integration, especially in the framework of the South American Regional Infrastructure Integration Initiative - IIRSA.