Uruguay’s Central Railway receives green light from Directorate of the Environment

Uruguay’s National Directorate of the Environment has given authorization for works to start on the Central Railway Project. The project aims to construct and maintain 273 km of railways between Montevideo Port and Paso de Los Toros in the department of Durazno. Finnish forest industry company, UPM, intends to set up a €2bn pulp mill in Durazno with capacity to process 2m tons of eucalyptus pulp annually. DatamarNews reported that UPM was mulling over an offer in the tender of a pulp terminal in the port of Montevideo.

According to the Ministry of Transportation and Public Works, the Central Railway Project includes a double-track section for the first 26 km from Montevideo, 12 secondary tracks for train crossings, a section of the rail-track for industrial access, and over 40 railway bridges – either upgraded or replaced. The new railway will increase rail transportation velocity to 80 kmph and carry 22.5 tons per axle. Construction is expected to last 36 months.

The Vía Central consortium of Saceem (Peru), Sacyr (Spain), Berkel (Uruguay), and NGE (France) has been selected for the contract to build the line.

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