The Government of Chile will form a technical commission to study two projects of the rapid train connection between the capital of the country Santiago and port city Valparaiso.

The commission will consist of the Ministry of Public Works, publicly owned rail operator Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), transport ministry and an international consulting firm. The government plans to select the project by the end of 2019 or the beginning of 2020.

The railway connection between Santiago and Valparaiso was declared a public interest, and the mandate authorizing the Ministry of Public Works (MOP) to initiate the process was signed on June 3.

Currently, there are two options for the project. The first is the proposal submitted in 2018 of the Chinese-Chilean consortium TVS, made up of the China Railway Group, the Chilean group Sigdo Koppers and Latin America Infrastructure. This project considers an investment of US$2.6 billion, a total of 231km and two branches. The first branch to Valparaiso for passenger and freight transport in a layout that considers four stations: Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, Casablanca and Santiago. And the second branch to San Antonio for cargo transport only. This project features 12 trains that would reach a speed of 200 kilometers per hour.

The second project was submitted this year by the IPL consortium composed of Spanish companies FCC, Agunsa and Talgo. This option includes a passenger and freight train connection to Valparaiso that would go from Estación Mapocho passing through Til Til, Olmué, Limache and Viña del Mar. It also features short freight connection to the port cities of Quintero and Ventanas. This project requires US$ 2.2 billion investment.

The next steps after the project will be chosen will be a design phase and a tender for a pre-qualification stage.