Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI), the National Infrastructure Agency in Colombia, is celebrating the return of goods to railways on one of its three railway corridors. After reactivating La Dorada (close to Medellin and Bogota) to Chiriguaná (a vital mining area close to the Venezuelan border) line in 2022, the corridor recorded transports of 29,178 tonnes of cargo in 2022.
The shipments rose significantly in the first eight months of 2023 when the corridor transported 132,549 tonnes of goods. In addition to this corridor, Chiriguaná is connected to Santa Marta, an important port in the Caribbean for trade with Europe and the US East Coast. The last active corridor is Bogotá – Belencito.
Among the main commodities transported on Colombian railways, there is cement, coffee, cleaning products, scrap metal, ceramics, food, packaging, chemical inputs, finished plastic, paper products, and agricultural commodities such as avocadoes and corn.
The La Dorada-Chiriguaná railway corridor is currently operated on the basis of a one-year public works contract. ANI is structuring a public-private partnership to operate and maintain this section for 10 years. It is expected to be awarded in mid-2024.
