Government postpones high-speed rail auction by one year.

Sabrina Craide
Reporter from Agência Brasil

Brasilia - The government has decided to postpone by one year the first stage of the high-speed train (TAV) auction, which is expected to connect the cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. The submission of proposals was scheduled for next Friday (16), and the auction was scheduled for September 19.

"After many conversations with potential participants, we felt that the bidding process was heading towards only one participant, and the other potential competitors requested a postponement of the process to finalize agreements among all those who would participate in this initial phase of project development," said the Minister of Transport, César Borges. According to him, the forecast for the start of train operations in 2020 remains unchanged.

Since its initial launch in 2010, the high-speed rail auction has been postponed twice at the request of companies interested in participating. The first bidding date was December 16, 2010. The auction was then moved to April 29, 2011, and rescheduled again for July 29, 2011.

On that last date, the auction was opened, but no bids were received. After that, the government decided to divide the bidding into two stages: the first will define the operator of the high-speed train and the technology to be used, and the second will contract the infrastructure for the project.

The government assures that postponing the auction will not compromise the high-speed rail schedule.

Despite the one-year postponement of the first stage of the high-speed train (TAV) auction, announced today (12), the government guarantees that the date for the start of commercial operation of the train remains June 2020. The project must be ready a year earlier for operational testing.

According to the president of the Planning and Logistics Company (EPL), Bernardo Figueiredo, the start date for the high-speed rail (TAV) operations remains unchanged because the second phase of the auction, which will determine the companies responsible for the project's infrastructure, is still scheduled for early 2015, even with the postponement of the first phase, which will contract the high-speed rail operator, technology, and equipment.

The government decided to postpone the first stage of the auction because interested parties, such as companies from Spain and Germany, requested more time to organize the consortia that will participate in the bidding. Companies from France had already expressed interest in participating in the bidding.

According to Figueiredo, the companies made no further demands on the government to participate in the auction. "We are not postponing the process because the auction is not attractive to companies. On the contrary, we are postponing it because it is more attractive, more companies want to participate, and we are offering them the opportunity," he said.

The Minister of Transport, César Borges, explained that, since it was only a postponement and not a cancellation of the auction, the rules of the bidding process will likely remain the same. "Of course, with a one-year postponement period, there may be improvements to the bidding process. Today there is no decision regarding this, nor any request for changes to the bidding process, but we cannot guarantee that, in a year's time, whatever improvements and security measures are needed for the process will be implemented."

The companies interested in participating in the auction that requested the postponement guaranteed that they will participate in the bidding process in a year. Furthermore, Korean and Japanese companies will also be able to participate in the auction, with the extension of the deadline. "We are available to talk to everyone who is interested; we want the competition to be as broad as possible," said Borges.

This is the third postponement of the high-speed train auction, which is expected to connect the cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Campinas. The submission of proposals was scheduled for next Friday (16), and the auction was scheduled for September 19. The bidding process was held in July 2011, but received no proposals. After that, the government decided to divide the bidding into two stages: the first will define the operator of the bullet train and the technology to be used, and the second will contract the project's infrastructure.