TGV coming to Argentina
 

The first very high speed train in Latin America will be running from Buenos Aires to Cordoba

http://www.alstom.com:80/pr_corp_v2/...Courante=23132

Awesome.
next step is to Mendoza to the North and maybe to Mar de Plata.
amazing how Argentina can get a TGV and we in California have not even decided on where the high-speed train will go, much less find the funding for it.

You've got CALTRAIN, what more could you ask for? :D

Good one for Argentina. With the size of the country and the growing infrastructure, its good to see actual mass transit options being explored instead of just pouring more cars and trucks on the road.

Is Argentina in any kind of earthquake zone that would make laying track down south not a viable option? Seeing Patagonia by rail would be almost as good as seeing it from the air.

The first high-speed train in Latin America will be in Brazil. During 2007 the Government of Brazil signed a contract to build the high-sped train from São Paulo's Luz Station to Rio de Janeiro's Central do Brasil Station.

The Government has approved the project for building the first high speed train connection from Brazil, between the cities of São Paulo (Estação da Luz) and Rio de Janeiro (Central do Brasil). The project foresees the construction of two rails, mostly under the ground, in a timeframe of seven years. The train will be able to accommodate 850 passengers and travel the distance (405 km) in 1h28, an average speed of 280 km/h. The price of one one-way ticket will be about R$120,00.

According to “VALEC – Engenharia, Construções e Ferrovias S/A”, company leading the project, the estimated cost is 6,7 billion euros, an investment due to be made by private enterprise in exchange for a 35 years exploitation contract. Around 33 million people travel on year basis between SP and RJ

A feasibility study is also under way to build the second and third high-speed train in Brazil linking the cities of Brasília and Goiânia and São Paulo and Campinas.

Rgs,

Forgive my cynicism, but if that project shows any potential for success you can bet that corrupt officials of the Argentine federal and provincial governments will do their best to such whatever cash they can out of it, then derail it. :(

Cristina has Hugo Chavez:D The (down payment) 800K$ are still in Argentina...

I will return to this thread and post a more detailed opinion on this, but for now I will say that this high-speed train project is just nonsense for Argentina. There are a gazillion other infrastructure issues that are more important than a white elephant TGV project that will only mean lavish trips from Buenos Aires to Paris for a chosen few, fat expense accounts and a waste of badly needed capital for other things that are more important to this Economy.

More later, but I go on the record as saying that the TGV for Argentina at this stage and in the project its currently in is just plain nonsense/rubbish.

:mad:

Buenos Aires to Paris??? That's some train route! :D

I am with you on this -- a lot of "favored" Argentines are going to be getting expense-paid trips to France .... coming back with lots of shopping .... while not really delivering the best bang for the average Argentine's AR$.

Nice catch... :D LMAO

Of course, the CDG-EZE trips I mean are those that will be part of the due diligence, negotiations, etc. of both folks on the government side but also the suppliers, bankers, consultants, etc. etc. As usual with these large projects, there is a lot of taxpayer $$$ spent/mis-spent & wasted... while this is the case for mega projects all over the world, for developing nations this waste is usually larger and more widespread.

To finish my comments on this white elephant in the making... I have a gazillion issues with this high-speed train, but two of the fundamental problems are:

1) prohibitive cost

2) poor choice of capital expenditure when many other major infrastructure investments are needed

Yesterday, it was reported that our President has ordered the Finance Minister to instrument a financing plan for this TGV fiasco that means that the Argentine Republic will have to issue a USD 4 Billion bond to finance this mega-project. Since Argentina is still not an active player in the international capital markets (since the default of 2001), Argentina will have to pay an approx. 10% interest cupon on these bonds, with a very short tenor of approx. 10 years for the debt. Normally, these infrastructure deals are financed out to at least 30 years, and effective interest rates are much much lower as many development banks of the OECD nations that support the export of capital goods are actively involved in financing and/or securing the $$$ for these deals. But, with Argentina still dealing with the holdout bondholders, plus the still unresolved Paris Club debt... all this is just not feasible. Bottom line, this financing is expensive and its tenor (time given to repay the bonds) does not match the economics of such an aggresive railway endevour.

The above issues aside.... how on Earth can anybody fathom such a project in Argentina when the installed capacity of the electricity generation system is operating at 110% capacity...? Power cuts to industry have been the news of the day for the last 12-18 months.... and Cristina goes on a pipe dream to built an expensive electric train...? What about the feasibility studies of critical mass & potential market for this train...? Argentina has undergone a drastic reduction & destruction of its conventional railway system, the road system is outdated and overcrowded.... various independent private sector studies have shown that spending big bucks on a flashy TGV ranks 10th or lower in the list of priorities, especially when one considers that the cities to be connected to Buenos Aires are already served reasonable well for a country like Argentina....

I could go on and on on infrastructure issues that need to be addressed before a TGV would make sense... but here is a basic shortlist

- aircraft radar systems for Argentine Airspace

- develop basic expressway systems (two lane highways) from mayor production areas in the country to the principal ports & airports

- develop basic conventional rail-systems recuperating part of the existing infrastructure to offer alternatives to highways

- invest in generation capacity for the nations electric grid

- invest in fiscal incentives to have private capital invest in new exploration of Argentinas important oil & natural gas reserves

When I first saw the thread title I thought, "What the HECK are they doing THAT for?" when there's so much other infrastructure needs to be more prudently addressed.

I'd be happy for a TGV from EZE to downtown :D
(just kidding)

I don't know if it has been fixed yet (would guess not), but the postal system was sufficiently unreliable a number of years ago that companies kept on their payroll a person whose function was to hand carry people's utility bill payments and such. Wonderfully inefficient overall for a country.

But I have to admit there was a lot I really liked about the place - the music, the style, the warmth, the scenery, etc.

Romelle

The latest update on this is that even before the first high-speed train project begins, the government is already talking about a second high-speed service to Mar del Plata... :rolleyes:

Backhanders for the first project not high enough then? :D