Trains are expected to begin running over the snow-capped Andes mountains within three years, after an historic agreement between Argentina and Chile.
The presidents of Chile and Argentina agreed the timetable for the £150million reopening after a meeting in Mendoza, Argentina.
Chile’s Michelle Bachelet and Nestor Kirchner of Argentina are inviting international companies to bid for the opportunity to rebuild 145 miles of track from Lujan de Cuyo in western Argentina and run the line.
One of the major loads for the rebuilt railway will be wine from Argentina, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, destined for the Californian market via the Chilean ports of San Antonio, Valparaiso and Ventana. But other goods can go to the rapidly expanding markets of China and the far east.
The Ferrocarril Transandino Central would also re-connect a web of freight railways in Mercosur, a trade bloc comprised of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.
That would clear the way for exports of beef, chemicals, shoes and rubber.
Currently exports have to go in the 1,000 or so lorries a day which climb to more than 3,000 metres to cross the Andes.
Some have plunged into the Mendoza River, polluting a vital supply of water for drinking and farmlands.
When snow closes the pass, up to 3,000 drivers have to camp out for days and several freeze to death each year. This winter the road was closed for 25 days and urgent traffic has to be re-routed via Buenos Aires which delays North America traffic by at least a week.
The original rail line opened in 1910 but closed to passengers in 1979 and five years later for freight. The railway’s major advantage is a tunnel through the border area where road vehicles are affected by snow.
Two other cross-border railway projects are being considered, one in the south at Neuquen and the other to the north at Jujuy.
FCTC would have the capacity to transport 4 million tons a year, equivalent to 780 trucks a day, at 15% cheaper rates than the road.
Information from AP.