DURING a meeting of the Senate Finance and Budget Committee earlier this month, Uruguay’s minister of transport and public works, Lucía Etcheverry, reported that although the country’s new railway masterplan is still being finalised, several priority areas have already been identified.

While no date has yet been given for the publication of the masterplan, the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MOTP) has allocated $US 200m for work to be undertaken under the plan by 2029.

At the meeting on November 4, Waverley Tejera, head of the national directorate of rail transport at MOTP, outlined projects that will receive priority in the short term:

  • rehabilitation of the railway bridge over the Río Negro. Tejera described this bridge as a major bottleneck and noted that its rehabilitation was excluded from the Central Railway project to upgrade the Montevideo - Paso de los Toros line
  • construction of a new line from the Central Railway to the state-owned oil refinery at La Teja, connecting it with fuel storage facilities in Durazno
  • major maintenance between Paso de los Toros and Rivera. Tejera noted that although this section was rehabilitated in 2019, maintenance has been deferred since 2021. The project is considered key to developing freight traffic from northern Uruguay and improving the existing passenger service between Tacuarembó and Rivera
  • reopening the 290km line between Peñarol in Montevideo and José Pedro Varela, which closed in 2012 when passenger services were withdrawn. With over 60% of domestic rice production located along this line, Tejera cited demand for rail freight services to Montevideo
  • development of a new southern connection to the Port of Montevideo. Tejera said MOTP is working with the National Ports Administration on this project, and
  • signalling upgrades and automation of level crossing protection systems.

While Tejera acknowledged that fixed operating costs are currently very high, he told Uruguay’s El Observador: “Our main objective is to meet existing demand and create the conditions for the railway to become a viable tool for production and for our people, enabling projects and contributing to the generation of opportunities for Uruguayans throughout the country.”

Tejera also confirmed that Uruguay is working with Argentina and Brazil to “make regional rail traffic viable.”

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