The National Government and the Government of Cundinamarca signed a new Conpes document through which they redefined the financial structure of the Regiotram del Norte projectalso known as the Zipaquirá Train. In the new Conpes the Nation increases its contribution from 70 percent to almost 82 percent, assuming what corresponded to Bogotá.
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Thus, the document, as EL TIEMPO had revealed last week, establishes that the project It will have a cost close to 17.36 billion (at constant 2024 peso prices)of which the Nation participates with a total of 14.17 billion, equivalent to 81.6 percent of the total, while Cundinamarca and the Regional Railway Company will contribute 3.19 billion, that is, the remaining 18.4 percent.
This decision marks a substantial change compared to the initial versions of the project, in which the contribution of the National Government was around 70 percent and participation of both the department and the Capital District was contemplated.
EL TIEMPO was able to establish that The new Conpes is 4190 and was signed by the Cabinet of President Gustavo Petro this Monday. Through this document, Conpes 4171 and 4172 are modified.
RegioTram Photo:Cundinamarca Government.
The financial redefinition occurs amid tensions between Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán and Governor Jorge Emilio Rey due to observations that the Capital District has and that are especially related to the insertion of the light rail in the urban area of Bogotá. The route in the city includes traveling along the lane located on Carrera 9a and NQS Avenue, and reaches the El Salitre sector, where the final station is located.
This Tuesday, upon hearing the news of the new Conpes, The Secretary General, Miguel Silva, pointed out what “Conpes 4190 takes by surprise (…) in which #Bogotá is excluded from the Regiotram del Norte project” and that “no team from the @Bogota Mayor’s Office was consulted.”
He also stated that it is a “non-consultative decision” and expressed that “the way to resolve the technical shortcomings of this project, which we have been expressing in technical tables, with the greatest prudence and respect, is not by excluding #Bogotá but by working in a harmonious manner.” And he added: “Issuing a Conpes to races does not accelerate the project but rather increases its risks.”
He Regiotram del Norte is an electric railway system with a route 49 kilometers long that will connect Bogotá with the municipalities of Chía, Cajicá and Zipaquirá. Entry into operation is expected to be in 2034.
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The project will be financed with contributions from future periods that will begin to be made from 2026 and will end in 2040. The Nation’s disbursements are projected between 2027 and 2039, concentrating on the construction years, while Cundinamarca will contribute resources between 2026 and 2040.
The agreed structuring model, according to the document, responds to the need to ensure the financial closure of a work of high technical complexity and high investment cost.
Initially, it was contemplated that the Nation would participate with around 69.99 percent and the rest would be borne by the territorial entities that were partners in the initiative.
It is worth remembering that the governor of Cundinamarca told this newspaper that he is not trying to remove the city from the railway project, but that there were some “afugias” on the table due to the timing to be able to have the financial closure, open bidding and award during his administration (ends on December 31, 2027).
Regiotram of the West Photo:Cundinamarca Governorate
He explained that the observations have been discussed with the mayor of Bogotá for eight months – before the entry of the law of guarantees – and that if there are new ones they will continue to be discussed in technical tables, but that the process has reached a point where it cannot be stopped, and that is why – he stated – the National Government proposed contributing what corresponds to the District.
“We no longer have time. If Bogotá continues to demand that we carry out technical reviews on issues that have already been discussed in various tables, and that does not allow its resources to reach the agreement, the National Government has said that it gives Bogotá’s money, so that the talks continue, but that the bidding schedule is not delayed,” Rey said in conversation with EL TIEMPO.
Even left the door open for Bogotá to enter as a partner in the railway project. He said that what the National Government and the department want is for Bogotá not to be left out, but that if the project continues to advance and Bogotá later wants to enter, it will be able to do so, returning to the Nation the investment that it finally makes to allow the process to continue advancing.
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“If the Nation decides to give that contribution, what we want is to have the financial closure, comply with the bidding and award opening schedule within our local government,” said Rey, who insisted that at the meeting “we will ratify our willingness and willingness to work as a team so that, in the end, Bogotá has a great alternative for sustainable mobility.”
In the midst of tensions between the two leaders, the Mayor Carlos Fernando Galán and Governor Jorge Rey They agreed to meet this week to talk about the project again. The meeting was planned for this Wednesday morning and the Minister of Transportation, María Fernanda Rojas, is expected to attend.
Bogotá, headed by Mayor Galán, had expressed its intention to participate in co-financing with nearly 2.3 billion pesos, in an effort to influence the design of the project as it travels through the city and the conditions of integration with the urban transportation system.
The Zipaquirá Train will have 17 stations, of which 10 are planned in the urban area of Bogotá and seven in Cundinamarca. The stations in the city will be on streets 200 (elevated), 170 (at-grade), 161 (elevated), 134 (at-grade), 116 (at-grade), 97 (at-grade), Highway North (at-grade), 72nd Street (at-grade), 26th Street (elevated) and 68th Street (at-grade).
The Zipaquirá train, the same Regiotram del Norte, will have 11 stations in Bogotá. Photo:Cundinamarca Governorate
It will also have a Modal Integration Center at km 23 + 158, a station in La Caro, an elevated variant at km 33 + 175, and level stations in Cajicá, at the Nueva Granada Military University, in the center of Zipaquirá and at the Zipaquirá terminal.
The sectional leader had highlighted that the regional railway project has a cost of more than 10 billion pesos in works and that no less than 67 percent will be invested within the city – in 4 vehicular and 6 railway viaducts and an overpass, among other works -, which “far exceed the investment that Bogotá has stated that it wants to contribute to this railway system.”
Galán, for his part, has pointed out that they raised some technical concerns about the journey within the city “that should and can be resolved.”
The mayor has also insisted that the Regiotram del Norte “is a priority for Bogotá” and that “it should not only be done“But it must be done well and ensure its sustainability over time.”
He also regretted that “the meeting last Thursday between the District Mobility Secretariat, the Regional Railway Company and the structurer had been cancelled, and that it was intended to review the progress of the project. After that cancellation, this Wednesday’s meeting was agreed.
The Minister of Transport, for her part, stated in a message published on the social network
According to the new Conpes document, the Regiotram del Norte will be developed in two phases: a pre-operational phase and an operational phase. The pre-operational phase includes the pre-construction and infrastructure construction stages, scheduled to begin in 2027.
The operational phase corresponds to the beginning of the provision of the service, which is scheduled for the year 2034. In total, it is estimated that, once the initiation document has been signed with the successful concessionaire, a period of 7 years will be required for the implementation of the service.
GUILLERMO REINOSO RODRÍGUEZ
Bogotá Editor
In X: @guirei24
