April 17 () –
The president of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, together with other government and business authorities, has inaugurated the Central Railway of Uruguay, an infrastructure built by Sacyr Concesiones through the Grupo Vía Central consortium.
This railway corridor links the city of Paso de los Toros, in the center of the country, with the port of Montevideo, through 265 kilometers in length and with a cost close to 915 million euros, according to the Spanish company in a statement, in which it details that the road is essentially cargo, although it is prepared for the inclusion of passengers.
In addition, the consortium has rehabilitated 25 passenger stations and stops and built 128 railway bridges and 6 trenches, including two railway trenches that allow the train to travel underground for almost 4 kilometers.
Grupo Vía Central is made up of 40% by Sacyr and 27% by the French firm NGE, in addition to two Uruguayan companies –Saceem (27%) and Berkes (6%)–. The project, awarded in 2019, included the design, construction, financing, rehabilitation and maintenance of the Central Railway for a period of 15 years.
More than 3,500 people worked directly on the project, with 90% of the labor employed Uruguayan. Technologies such as welded rails, anti-noise and anti-vibration protections were used in the construction and more than 37,500 tons of rails, 567,000 concrete sleepers were installed, approximately 12.5 million cubic meters of earth were moved and 1 million tons of ballast was used. .
The infrastructure will reduce travel time by 50% and increase the load capacity of the trains, from 18 tons to 22 tons per axle. In addition, the new infrastructure will have a positive impact on the growth of agricultural, forestry and industrial production.
Sacyr currently manages a portfolio of concession projects around the world that total a value of 3,254 million euros. In Uruguay it also has the concession of the Routes 21 and 24 road corridor, 179 kilometers long and located in the west of the country.
