Colombia’s New Government Gives the Green Light to Five Strategic Railway Projects
The Government of Colombia ratified its decision to continue in the structuring phase of five key rail projects to consolidate the national railway system.
During the First National Railway Summit 2026, held in Paipa, Boyaca, the president of the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI), Ricardo Ayerbe, stated that the decision of President Abelardo de la Espriella‘s Government is to continue with the structuring of projects in the Central, Buenaventura-Palmira, Yumbo-Caimalito-La Felisa, Villavicencio-Puerto Gaitan, and Atlantico-La Guajira corridors.
Ayerbe highlighted that these five projects will continue in their technical maturation stage, meaning advancing in pre-feasibility, feasibility, designs, and comprehensive structurings (technical, financial, legal, social, and environmental), to then go out to tender.
Recovering the train for multiple purposes
At the first National Railway Summit, representatives of the Government, trade unions, business leaders, and regional authorities raised the need to recover the train as part of a strategy to connect territories, reduce logistics costs, and strengthen passenger and freight transportation.
The Central Railway Corridor is a railway project with an extension of 448 kilometers that seeks to connect the Bogota-Cundinamarca Metropolitan Region with Caribbean ports. In March, the feasibility study began, and the awarding of the future concession is projected for 2029.
Meanwhile, the Villavicencio-Puerto Gaitan corridor, 193 kilometers long, is a strategic project called to transform the connectivity of the high plains and boost the agro-industrial development of eastern Colombia. The feasibility study began in March, and the concession award is estimated to take place in the second half of 2027.
Last July, ANI published the bidding documents for contracting pre-feasibility studies for the connection between La Guajira and the Atlantico railway corridor, a strategic initiative to strengthen the territorial, logistical, and social integration of the Caribbean region. In September, the pre-feasibility consultancy will be awarded.
For its part, the development of the Buenaventura-Palmira railway corridor is a project that will enable the consolidation of a modern railway system, moving around 2.7 million tons and 3.8 million passengers annually.
Finally, in the first semester, the consultancy for the modernization of the Yumbo-Caimalito-La Felisa railway corridor was awarded to the TPF La Felisa Consortium, leaving the project in a pre-operational stage and ready for the start of detailed engineering studies and designs.
Together, the five corridors represent the Government’s bet on reactivating rail transport as an alternative for cargo and passenger transport, and reducing dependence on roads in several regions of the country.
Implementation of railways will take several years
Ayerbe’s confirmation at the National Railway Summit clears up doubts about the continuity of these processes, although the awarding timelines, between 2027 and 2029, show that the effective implementation of these railways will continue to take several years.
For now, the message from ANI is one of continuity for the five fronts that make up the national railway strategy.
Maria Consuelo Araujo Castro, former executive president of the Colombian Chamber of Infrastructure (CCI), explained that the summit arose from a review of the country’s infrastructure portfolio. She said there are 76 road projects, 12 fluvial, 21 aerial, and only six rail projects.
“There is an imbalance. We cannot understand intermodality with that balance and that portfolio of projects, which clearly mark a need to focus on the railway sector,” she said.
She also clarified that the railway agenda responds to the needs of CCI affiliate companies and the requirements of the regions. Therefore, she stated that the goal is to connect freight, passenger, metro, and commuter train projects to advance toward greater intermodality.