Spanish companies travel to Chile, Peru, Sweden and Denmark

During the second half of the year, the Spanish Railway Association Mafex organized several international promotion activities in which fifteen companies participated. These activities were targeted at the markets of Chile and Peru in October and Sweden and Denmark in November.

The main railway players in these four countries received the Spanish companies that participated in both delegations. For example, in Peru, meetings were held with the Director of Railways of the Ministry of Transport, the Executive Director of the Autonomous Authority of the Massive Electric Transportation System of Lima and Callao and the General Manager of the Central Andean Railway and Perurail, as well as with Proinversión, Ositran, Gaña y Montero and GMI engineering. In Chile, the Spanish delegation was given the responsibility of the tram project Las Condes, responsible for the Central Train, Metro Santiago, the Empresa de los  Ferrocarriles del Estado (EFE), and the Railway Arica-La Paz Railway, among others

In the Scandinavian countries, meetings were held with the Danish railway infrastructure manager, Banedanmark; the authority of the Metro of Copenhagen, Metroselskabet and the company that carries out the operation and maintenance, Metro Service. Also in Sweden, the Spanish delegation was received by the responsible for Stockholms läns Landsting (SLL), the authority in charge of new extensions of the Stockholm Metro, and the authority responsible for the metro and other public transport in Stockholm, Stockholm Public Transport, SL .

Mafex was also present at the International Suppliers Day that Trafikverket, the Swedish Railway Infrastructure Manager, organized in Malmö on November 22nd.

Chile and Peru: two markets with significant Spanish presence

The commercial delegation coordinated by Mafex was carried out in a context of boost to transport infrastructure in Peru. In this sense, the Executive approved for 2016 an investment of more than 5,000 million dollars for the modernization of railway networks.

Among the star initiatives are the Integral Rehabilitation of the Huancayo-Huancavelica Railway, which will be carried out under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) regime and whose concession will be granted under the turnkey project modality; The extension of lines 3 and 4 of the Metro de Lima and Callao, as well as future co-financed projects, of public-private initiative, such as the South Commuter train between Lurín and Chincha, which requires an investment of 1,500 million dollars.

Chile is another strategic market for the Spanish industry. A country where many Mafex member companies are already set up and where infrastructure is expected to be boosted in the coming years. More information on this is included in the section Destination of this same issue.

Sweden and Denmark: two destinations with great rail appeal

The Swedish government has aimed to renew its transport networks through the current Infrastructure Plan 2014-2025, which is the largest investment in the country’s history in this sector, with SEK 522 billion targeted to more than 150 projects. High Speed is one of the great projects towards which much of the state investment is destined.

For its part, the railway sector in Denmark has experienced a boom in recent years due to attempts by the public authorities to revive the economy through an increase in public spending. For more information on the main railway projects in these two Scandinavian countries, you can consult the section Destination of September’s issue.

Israel: Mafex Study Mission

During the month of November, Mafex conducted a Study Mission to Israel, where meetings were held with the main public railway organizations such as the Israeli Railways (ISR) or Netivey and the Metros of Tel Aviv (NTA) and Jerusalem (JTMT) among others.

The Government of Israel is currently engaged in a process of improving its entire infrastructure network at national level, particularly in rail transport. High Speed projects, the contract for the electrification of all its routes awarded to the Spanish company Semi or the objective of doubling the number of passenger trains in the short term are a clear example of the opportunities offered by this country. At the regional level, a great effort is being made to build and improve the tram lines. For the next few years, in addition to the Green (39 km) and Violet tram lines planned in Tel Aviv, there are projects for the development of 3 new metro lines in the country. These would complement the already planned Tram Lines, Green (23 km) and Blue, to be held in Jerusalem and which are attracting the interest of the main companies in the international railway sector.

On the other hand, during the month of October, the Conference on business opportunities in the railway sector in Iran was held in Bilbao, coordinated by the Basque Business Development Agency (SPRI) in collaboration with Mafex. During the same period, the directors of the Iranian Railways (RAI) and the CDTIC and IDRO railway companies exposed to twenty companies their needs and options for collaboration in different areas, including the modernization of existing lines, the electrification of tracks, the construction of two-way tracks, the renewal of railroads near obsolescence and the construction of new train infrastructure.

Alamys’ Assembly

During October 24th and 25th, Mafex participated in the 30th Assembly and Annual Congress of Alamys, the Latin American Association of Meters and Trams, held in Santiago, Chile. During the Congress, which had as its motto “Metro Growth in Latin American Cities of the Future”, worked on the contribution of urban trains to the development of large Latin American cities. Likewise, the challenges faced by the sector were presented and several success stories and technological innovations were analysed, as well as the impact of these transports in favour of social equity.