Chinese train manufacturer CSR has sparked a dispute between fellow state-owned companies after winning two contracts in Argentina. The clash reflects the impact of the changing domestic environment on the industry, Guangzhou's 21st Century Business Herald reports.

CSR made an announcement on May 27 regarding deals it recently signed, including a 2.26 billion yuan (US$368.5 million) contract to supply trains to Argentina, which was signed on May 23.

The deal was another victory for CSR, which was already criticized by other Chinese train manufacturers for using questionable practices to win a major contract in Argentina at the end of last year, the newspaper said.

Citing a report by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the newspaper said that the recent dispute over contracts originated from a train accident and subsequent political scandals in the South American country.

Argentina decided to upgrade its railway network and inter-city train system after an accident killed 51 people in the capital of Buenos Aires on Feb. 22, 2012. The accident was considered the country's worst during the last 82 years.

The Argentine government further announced a review on ongoing negotiations related to supply contracts for the upgrade, because several scandals involving graft allegations against transportation officials had surfaced.

One of the contracts affected, the newspaper said, was worth US$514 million and was later awarded to CSR, which approached the Argentine government through its Qingdao-based subsidiary at the end of last year. CSR's price quote was much lower than those of the rivals, who entered the bid before the review.

CSR proposed an offer price of US$1.27 million per car, while prices offered by companies including France's Alstom and China CNR stood at above US$2 million per car.

CSR's low prices also led Argentina to halt negotiations with all other Chinese train manufacturers, as the country become suspicious about the pricing of other Chinese companies.

Such results, along with the fact that CSR did not notified its plan to bid to the chamber as required, led to a complaint filed to the industry body by competing firms. The chamber's expert board ruled at the end of March that CSR should voluntarily withdraw from the Argentine market for a year.

CSR apparently does not intend to follow the decision, as it proposed a price that was even lower — US$1.05 million per car — to win the May 23 contract.

The newspaper also pointed out that CSR had broken the rules established by China's now defunct Ministry of Railways, by moving into the fast-growing Argentine market, which was assigned to China's CNR.

The intense competition in the overseas market, the newspaper said, is likely caused by declining domestic sales of Chinese state-owned train makers.

As China has stopped ordering new trains since 2009, an analyst said it was expected that CSR and China CNR would have no domestic orders after they completed the delivery of trains under existing contracts in March and June, respectively.

Source(English): http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20130613000141&cid=1102

www.railwaybrazil.com | As published in http://www.bnamericas.com first, a group comprised of Estação da Luz Participações (EDLP) and BTG Pactual Gestora de Recursos submitted the original expression of interest last year.

This was followed by a call in January seeking other expressions of interest, which attracted another 12 companies, online magazine Revista Ferroviaria reported. The companies are Empresa Global de Projetos, Construtora Andrade Gutierrez, Planos Engenharia, Socicam Administração, Projetos e Representações, Construcap-CCPS Engenharia e Comércio, CR Almeida Engenharia de Obras, KPMG Structured Finance, Mitsui & Co Brasil, Construtora Ferreira Guedes, Prointec, Samsung C&T do Brasil Construtora, and Contern Construções e Comércio.

Being administered through the state's transport secretary and its PPP management council, the project involves preparing studies for a 35-year concession, which will involve building railways, implementing control systems, purchasing rolling stock and operating and maintaining the system. Set to last six months, the studies involve preparing engineering designs and a remuneration model for the concession, which includes carrying out evaluations for passenger demand and financial viability, as well as those addressing operations and legal aspects.

Source(English): http://www.bnamericas.com/news/privatization/brazils-multi-billion-sao-paulo-railway-ppp-atttracts-13-consultancy-groups

Foto: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldon/3396796000/sizes/m/in/photostream/ 

by Ricardo Escudero Viñas | In the coming days will be the last trip between the port of Arica in Chile and the Bolivian border for definitive railroad testing and authorization for this 206 km corridor for cargo transportation.

Sorce(Spanish):http://www.la-razon.com/nacional/Chile-funcionamiento-Ferrocarril-Arica-La-Paz_0_1754824593.html

Picture: http://www.elpuertolibre.cl/archivos/5864

Adif ha implantado nuevas tecnologías de seguridad en la línea de alta velocidad Córdoba-Málaga, desarrolladas para prevenir los efectos de la sismicidad y el viento lateral en las infraestructuras y circulaciones ferroviarias. Se trata de los proyectos de I+D ferroviaria, denominados Sismo y Pantalla -ya finalizados y en fase de pruebas y desarrollo tecnológico- y el proyecto Eolo, en funcionamiento desde el pasado mes de febrero.

The deadline to submit bids for a tender to supervise the contractors developing the executive project for Brazil's 35.6bn-real (US$18bn) Rio-São Paulo-Campinas bullet train project has been pushed back to May 14.

Originally set for April 23, the date had been changed to May 2 and now to May 14. Postponements were necessary to change the criteria for judging technical proposals in order to seek greater balance and efficiency for those qualifying, according to a statement from national logistics and planning group, EPL, who has launched the tender.

Due to its complexity, the project is being developed in segments by various contractors. Besides the railway, preparations must be made to implement various tunnels, bridges, train stations, train yards, and parking facilities.

Once a supervising contractor is hired, EPL estimates that executive project developers will be hired within six months and development should take about 12 months.

Although there is no limit on the amount of participants in concessions, subcontractors are not allowed. A tender budget has not been stipulated as bidding is being conducted by way of the federal government's differentiated contracting system RDC.

Source(English):http://www.bnamericas.com/news/infrastructure/epl-pushes-back-bid-submissions-for-rio-sao-paulo-bullet-train-project-supervision1 

Picture: http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2482/3710953502_3684cae6f7_z.jpg?zz=1 

by Ricardo Escudero Viñas | The city hall of Rio de Janeiro informed that the opening of bid proposals for Porto Maravilha tender was delayed from January 10 to January 29 due giving more time for participants for the elaboration of proposals.

This is a light rail transit project of 30 km and 42 stations valued BRL 1.1 bn, financed 50% by federal government by the country's growth acceleration plan, PAC.

Source(English): http://www.bnamericas.com/news/infrastructure/bid-opening-postponed-to-build-rios-us541mn-porto-maravilha-lrt

Foto: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mulad/8075090858/sizes/m/in/photostream/

by Ricardo Escudero Viñas | The Argentine central government decided to renew almost complete fleet of passenger rolling stock for commuter lines Mitre and Sarmiento in the Buenos Aires region.

Government has awarded Chinese CSR integrator to deliver 400 electric units that include traction systems manufactured by Bombardier between July 2013 and June 2014.

Sourece(Spanish): http://www.ieco.clarin.com/economia/Cristina-anunciara-China-vagones-ferroviarios_0_844115627.html

Picture: http://www.csrgc.com.cn/ens/cpyfw/cgdtcl/2008-06-17/705.shtml   

The Brazilian MPE (Assemblies and Special Projects) in collaboration with Malaysian Scomi, is investing in the fast growing monorail market in Brazil. At the end of January will be opened the first factory in Rio de Janeiro, which will produce 24 trains for Line 17 (Gold) of the São Paulo Metro.

Source(Portuguese): http://www.valor.com.br/empresas/2955958/mpe-investe-na-construcao-de-monotrilhos

Picture: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/12/15/business/12461899