A CHINESE-LED group of companies won a multi-billion dollar contract to construct Bogota’s first metro line, as officials in Colombia’s traffic-clogged capital push ahead with a project that’s been in the works for nearly seven decades.

Bogota Mayor Enrique Penalosa said the more than US$4 billion contract will be awarded to a consortium called Apca Transmimetro, led by China Harbor Engineering Co., Xi’an Metro Co., Brazil’s CRRC Changchun Do Brasil Railway Equipamentos e Servicos and Canada-based plane and train manufacturer Bombardier Inc.

Construction may begin early next year on the 15-mile elevated rail line that will connect Bogota’s poorer southern neighborhoods to near the main financial district.

The Colombian Government, the city of Bogota, which is considering tapping local bond markets, and Apca will finance the public works project through a mix of debt and equity, according to regulatory filings.

Nestled high in the Andes Mountains, Bogota officials for nearly 70 years have vowed to build a metro line, only to see their plans scuttled by disagreements over whether it should be an elevated line or subterranean, and how to pay for it.

After years of failed attempts, the bustling capital of 7 million residents is now the largest city in the Americas without any urban rail system.

The cost of buying land, building the line and operating the system will make it one of the largest public works projects in the city’s history.

Apca beat out a consortium of companies called Metro de Bogota, which included Spanish giant Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas SA, which has built metro systems in Spain, Panama and Peru, and Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s Carso Infraestructura y Construccion SA, among others.

Cities across Latin America spent heavily on public transportation systems in recent years. Panama City, Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and Chile’s Santiago have expanded their systems this year. Colombia’s second-biggest city, Medellin, already has a metro with three lines.

In Bogota, however, many workers are left to rely on cars or buses. Commutes can stretch for hours, especially for the poorest residents who live farthest from the main business districts. Bogota trails only Moscow and Istanbul for the title of most congested city in the world, according to a global ranking produced by INRIX Inc., which analyzes traffic data.

Under the plan, the elevated line will carry as many as 70,000 passengers per hour from neighborhoods in the south to near the financial district in the prosperous north of the city, skirting past the Spanish-colonial center along the way. Construction is expected to last for at least five years, with Apca charged with building stations, re-configuring roads, and operating and maintaining the system for two decades. (SD-Agencies)