In Colombia, the cities have begun to expand towards the peripheries without offering the ideal road infrastructure to support the flow of vehicles that transit, for which reason commuter train projects are being developed that will complement in an important and efficient way a need that, not It is not only urgent, but it would promote the development and integration of the regions.
According to the director of the Mendoza firm, María Lucía Amador, “in large cities such as New York, London and Paris, mass passenger transport systems mainly use rail. As a large part of the population works in the center of the cities, but lives on the outskirts, the suburban train, connected to the metro, is the mode of transport with the capacity to mobilize the largest number of people in the shortest possible time. . Thus, a large part of the people choose to use this system instead of the private car to save travel time”.
In Cali, for example, the Mayor’s Office and the Government of Valle del Cauca, with the support of Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), are advancing with the structuring of a commuter train project that would begin operating in 2028 and will seek to improve connectivity between the municipalities of Cali, Jamundí, Yumbo and Palmira, as well as a connection with the Alfonso Bonilla Aragón airport.
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The Mayor of that city recently reported that the National Government is supporting the initiative with a contribution of $25,000 million in its feasibility studies and technical designs, of which $2,000 million have been contributed by the Mayor’s Office and the same amount by the Government of Valle of the Cauca. This is a project that in phase I would be built in the Jamundí – Cali section, an area where the city is expanding.
The Coffee Region is also being targeted, with a multipurpose railway project that the Ministry of Transportation recently announced as part of the National Development Plan 2023-2026, which will further promote tourism, improve connectivity for 2.7 million people in the departments of Quindío, Caldas, Risaralda and, even, Valle del Cauca, integrating 15 municipalities and the cities of Armenia, Pereira and Manizales.
With the same objective, the possibility of developing the Caribbean Regional Train is being sought, which would strengthen transport between cities in the region to boost competitiveness and boost tourism. For this project, at the end of last year an agreement was signed between governors of the region for the development of this means of transport, which will connect the inhabitants and tourists of Cartagena, Barranquilla and Santa Marta.
In Bogotá, the Regiotram de Occidente (which is expected to start operating in 2026) would connect Facatativá with Soacha and Bogotá through two lines, and would be interconnected with future Metro lines, making the movement of passengers between Bogotá and Facatativá more a duration of 60 minutes.
alternate transportation
Thus, it will become an alternative mode of transport to vehicles and the Transmilenio on Calle 13, which would contribute to solving one of the main mobility problems: the entry and exit of vehicles to the west and south of the city. In the same way, being a 100% electric project would help to improve the air quality problem that we currently face.
On the other hand, the Regiotram del Norte will connect Bogotá with Chía, Cajicá and Zipaquirá and it is expected that around 250,000 passengers a day will be mobilized on it. The possibility of connecting not only with Transmilenio, but also with the Regiotram of the West through feeders is being studied, which leads to a true interconnection system between the entire periphery of the city.
Last year, the organic law that defines the general conditions of the Bogotá-Cundinamarca Metropolitan Region was approved, whose purpose is to promote the integral development of the region and the closing of gaps between the territorial entities that comprise it.
According to the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, daily between Bogotá and Cundinamarca there are 5.3 million trips on public transport (whose trip on average takes 1 hour and 42 minutes, multiplied by twice a day). Thus, it is clear that these projects will facilitate connectivity between the municipalities that are part of the Metropolitan Region, reduce transportation costs for citizens who move, and mitigate congestion and saturation of access roads to the city.
“In this way, what is sought with the implementation of commuter trains and regional trains is to improve connectivity between cities in the same region, and between the main cities and the periphery, as well as allowing a more orderly and planned development. They also seek to improve accessibility and complement existing modes of transportation so that they function as a multimodal transportation network, which undoubtedly allows for increased competitiveness by reducing transportation times and vehicle congestion. Without a doubt, they will be an essential element to improve the quality of life of the people who converge around the main cities and regions in the country”, concludes the infrastructure expert from Mendoza, María Lucía Amador.
The Caribbean Regional Train
The Caribbean Regional Train, a mobility project that seeks to connect the departments of Bolívar, Magdalena and Atlántico, which would be a great contribution to the environment, aims to boost the region’s competitiveness, optimizing travel times between the three mentioned departments.
According to the details that are known so far, this sustainable means of transport will pass through at least 25 municipalities on the Caribbean coast, ten of them on the Atlantic, nine in Magdalena and six in Bolívar.
“The proposed railway corridor contemplates a route of 363 kilometers along 25 municipalities. It will connect with the National Railway Network, which will allow the integration and mobilization of cargo from the main ports of the Caribbean region with the center of the country and its areas of influence,” explained Sandra Gómez, president of Findeter.
According to Findeter, which is the entity that supports this mobility project, the electric train will have the capacity to transport cargo and also passengers. In addition, he has mentioned that the construction of this work would take approximately five years.
According to what Findeter has communicated, these are some of the benefits that this mode of transport would bring to the region:
-It will contribute to the reactivation of the national railway network.
-It will improve the competitiveness of the region, the connection of the satellite cities with the population centers.
-It will make it possible to transport large quantities of goods on long journeys
-It will reduce operating costs and environmental impact.
It should be remembered that a few weeks ago the entity announced that the consultancy that develops the studies for the selection of the route alternative for the construction of the Caribbean Regional Train in the departments of Atlántico, Bolívar and Magdalena advances by 95%.
The investment to execute this project would be approximately US$1,500 million dollars.
For his part, the Minister of Transportation, Guillermo Reyes, pointed out that “the train and the integration of the Caribbean is a dream for this Government and for me, here we can build a country together. Reactivating the train is a necessity for the communities and we are going to develop these initiatives”.