The Peruvian rail projects set to advance next year

Several Peruvian rail projects that were announced this year are set to advance in 2023.

The project profile for the 1.2bn-sol (US$316mn) eastern rail corridor between the regions of Lima and Huarochirí will be ready soon. Construction for the priority project is expected to start in 2024 and finish in 2026. The 46.2km electric line will use existing rails of Ferrocarril Central de Perú.

The 947mn-sol rehabilitation of the 128km Huancayo-Huancavelica rail across the central highlands will be carried out in two stages, according to the transport and communications ministry (MTC), which seeks to advance the project through the government-to-government (G2G) mechanism.

Bidding for the Huancayo-Cuenca stage is underway, with works expected to be completed in 2024. The Cuenca-Huancavelica stage is scheduled to be finished in 2026.

Building the US$3.26bn, 324km Lima-Ica rail (Cercanías train), part of the Tren Grau rail corridor, will take four to six years, according to the private investment transport department. The technical profile and engineering report are expected to be finished in July or August 2023.

The overall Tren Grau project will extend 2,450km, demand US$32bn and involve eight sections. The first three – Lima-Ica, Lima-Barranca, Trujillo-Chiclayo – will demand a combined US$9bn.

On the freight rail front, the 18.2bn-sol, 600km San Juan de Marcona (Ica region)-Andahuaylas (Huancavelica region) link will connect Ica, Arequipa, Ayacucho and Apurímac. Preliminary reports were expected to be submitted in 4Q22, but the ministry has not provided any updates. Studies for the project profile are expected to be ready in March.

Meanwhile, a passenger rail link between Chile’s Arica region and Peru’s Tacna restarted operations on December 21, after having been closed for three years due to the health crisis.

While rail projects help boost the economy, debate over the best execution model has ensued. In August, specialists told BNamericas that public-private partnerships are not necessarily the best mechanism, as G2G agreements would be better adjusted to reality.