{"id":3435,"date":"2019-05-12T20:08:43","date_gmt":"2019-05-12T18:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/?p=3435"},"modified":"2019-05-14T13:51:30","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T11:51:30","slug":"tracks-for-the-central-bioceanic-railway-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revistaitransporte.com\/tracks-for-the-central-bioceanic-railway-corridor\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracks for the Central Bioceanic Railway Corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"

This major railway line is a project promoted by the Bolivian government. The plan is to cross the South American continent from east to west (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru), connecting the three countries and possibly adding branches to Paraguay and Argentina. The project involves building a total of approximately 4,700 kilometres of a freight and passenger line in order to establish a high-capacity transport route between the Pacific and Atlantic.<\/p>\n

To analyse the feasibility of the project, the Spanish engineering company Ineco, in consortium with Incosa, carried out a feasibility study for Peru\u2019s Ministry of Transport in 2016 and 2017. The work, which focused on Peruvian territory, included analysis of possible route options and optimum technical and financial solutions; examination of freight demand forecasts until 2055; assessment of Bolivia\u2019s infrastructure situation; studies of the compatibility of the different existing track gauges; and calculation of works budget distribution. The analysis concluded with a social assessment of the project and its feasibility.<\/p>\n

This is a large-scale project whose profitability depends on freight and passenger demand originating in Bolivia and, especially, Brazil<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Analysis of options<\/h4>\n

In order to define the best route, the consortium carried out a study of options on three corridors: two departing from the Desaguadero border post south of Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia, and a third from a location proposed in the Bolivian government\u2019s project known as Milestone 4, located southeast of the Desaguadero border post.<\/p>\n

The three routes would reach ports on Peru\u2019s Pacific coast: option 1 (originating at Milestone 4) and 2 (originating in Desaguadero), measuring 406.6 and 458.7 kilometres in length respectively, would join in the city of Moquegua into a common branch that would terminate at the port of Ilo; option 3 (originating in Desaguadero) would be the most extensive route, measuring 633.4 kilometres in length, 194 kilometres of which already exist and 439 kilometres which would need to be built. The latter would skirt Lake Titicaca, pass through the cities of Puno, Juliaca and Arequipa and terminate at the port of Matarani.<\/p>\n

In all three options, the railway would need to negotiate considerably uneven terrain. The border between Peru and Bolivia is located at an altitude of 4,000 metres, which means that the railway would be required to wind between mountains and highlands to descend to a port on the coast. The basic geometric conditions of the project call for minimum radii of 250 metres and maximum slopes of 2.5%, in addition to the need to minimise the number of bridges, tunnels and earthworks.<\/p>\n

In terms of social benefits, the study assessed savings on the operation of freight diverted from the roads; freight and passenger traffic times; environmental benefits; and reduced accident rates<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Demand study<\/h4>\n

An important part of establishing the feasibility of the Bioceanic Railway Corridor was a demand study to calculate freight volumes in Peruvian territory for all of the route options and their projections for the time horizon under assessment.<\/p>\n

The time horizons of the CFBC project to which the study worked were 2025 for entry into operation, 2055 as the end of the maturity period and 2075 as the final time horizon.<\/p>\n

In order to determine future demand for the Railway Corridor, a transport model was drawn up using spatial referencing (zoning) to relate the network (supply) with mobility data (demand). It was a macro transport model that enabled prediction of the layout of an origin-destination matrix (demand) across different transport mode networks (supply).<\/p>\n

To create this model, Ineco used TransCAD, a powerful transport planning software that uses aspects such as socio-economic variables, the general characterisation of the infrastructure and road and railway demand as baseline information. In addition, field work was also required to collect additional data to calibrate the supply network entered and the demand in the final origin-destination matrices together with the Bolivian review of the transport model.<\/p>\n

Demand scenarios were simulated for three time horizons: 2025, entry into operation; 2050, intermediate year; and 2075, the project\u2019s final time horizon. And the three supply scenarios for the three route options.<\/p>\n

As a result of this model, the CBFC\u2019s demand corresponding to the area of direct influence was estimated as follows:<\/p>\n