COLOMBIA’s president, Gustavo Petro, has reaffirmed his government’s ambition to repurpose and expand the Cerrejón Railway, the country’s only standard-gauge line, during a visit to the Cesar region on August 21.
The 150km line opened in 1984 and connects South America’s largest coal mine to the export terminal at Puerto Bolívar on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. The proposals include the construction of 300km of new infrastructure to connect the line to the Santa Marta - La Dorada corridor, Colombia’s principal north–south axis, along with the introduction of passenger and agricultural rail freight services.
The line is operated under concession by Fenoco and Glencore, the multinational that owns the Cerrejón mine. Under the proposals, the concession could be expanded to include agricultural products. The Cesar and La Guajira regions are major banana producers, and rail access to Puerto Bolívar and Santa Marta would provide a direct export route.
At its peak, the railway moved 50 million tonnes of coal annually, but the government claims that volumes have fallen to around 10 million tonnes in recent years. Petro argues this decline is resulting in under-utilised infrastructure and has put forward plans to develop a “tourism and social development corridor.”
Beyond the challenges of renegotiating existing concessions, Petro also acknowledged that development of the La Guajira and Cesar regions to support tourism and boost agricultural exports will depend on the support of the Wayúu, the region’s predominant Indigenous community.
