China interested in building Brazil bullet train

State-run China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) is interested in helping Brazil build its Rio-São Paulo-Campinas bullet train project estimated at some 50bn reais (US$14.9bn)

The project, which has been on hold for more than two years, involves building a 511km railway between Rio de Janeiro and Campinas, including a stop in the city of São Paulo.

"Our company has a strong interest in collaborating with the Brazilian government to facilitate infrastructure projects," CRCC director Zhao Jianping said in a press release, after a meeting with Eduardo de Castro, president of Brazil's logistics and planning group EPL in Brasília.

For the deputy general director of CRCC Brazil, Huang Xin, the bullet train is economically feasible and represents "a whole new world in Brazilian infrastructure." New studies are underway to update particular aspects of the project, added EPL planning director João Victor Domingues.

According to Castro, EPL staff is ready to go, but the final word lies with the executive secretary of Brazil's investment partnership program, Moreira Franco.

"Although its original price tag [some six years ago] was approximately 33bn reais, it should be more like 50bn reais [considering project updates and inflation]," transportation infrastructure expert Paulo Resende told BNAmericas last year, adding that the project definitely needs updates to its design plan.