Published Wednesday, January 16, 2008, by AFP

France's Alstom chosen to bring high-speed train to Latin America

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) -- Argentina on Wednesday handed a consortium
headed by France's Alstom a 1.3-billion-dollar contract to build a
high-speed rail link between Buenos Aires and the northeast city of
Cordoba.

When it is completed in three years' time, the line -- the first of
its kind in Latin America -- will permit travelers to rocket some
700 kilometers (450 miles) across Argentina's vast interior flatland
in "Cobras," updated versions of the TGV trains in use in France.

Argentine President Cristina Kirchner and the French minister for
transport, Dominique Bussereau, attended the ceremony awarding the
contract through a signing of intent.

"This is not merely a commercial transaction, nor a high-tech project,
but rather a big step towards a different modernity," said Kirchner,
whose government is seeking to restore Argentina's neglected rail
network.

The consortium that won the tender, Veloxia, is led by TGV-maker
Alstom, in partnership with Spanish and Argentine companies.

The final, binding agreement on the project is to be signed at a later
date, once 90-percent financing is worked out with the French bank
involved, Societe Generale.

The tender's outcome was no surprise.

Alstom, already one of the leaders in high-speed train technology,
calculated in its bid that the project would cost less than a quarter
of the outlay in other countries because the flat "pampas" the train
line would pass through required very few bridges and tunnels to be
built.

With top speeds approaching 300 kilometers per hour, the trains will
slash the journey time between Buenos Aires and Cordoba from 14 hours
to less than three.

The line will also serve the city of Rosario, located half-way along
the projected link.

Altogether, the three cities count 15 million inhabitants, or more
than a third of the country's 40 million people. Rosario and Cordoba
are vital centers in the farm sector, which is booming thanks to high
commodity prices.

The tender win put Veloxia in a good position to vie for later
high-speed train projects being mulled by Argentina, including a link
between the capital and the coastal resort town of Mar Del Plata 400
kilometers distant, and to the wine hub of Mendoza, 1,000 kilometers
away, at the foot of the Andes.

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