ARTF will receive proposals for new trains on August 1.

The Railway Transport Regulatory Agency (ARTF) has determined that companies interested in building the first two sub-sections of the passenger trains on the Querétaro-Irapuato and Saltillo-Nuevo Laredo routes must submit their technical and financial proposals on the ComprasMX platform by August 1st at 10:00 a.m.

The federal government intends to announce the decisions between the second and third week of August, with plans for work to begin in September.

The schedule for the two international tenders, which included a clarification meeting, was extended due to "the complexity and magnitude of the questions raised by the bidders," so a second meeting was held to provide the requested answers.

However, some companies needed more time to submit the information requested in their proposals.

For example, CAABSA Constructora informed the ARTF that, given the large amount of information to be processed (submitted in different stages), a longer period than the 21 days that interested firms now officially have is required to prepare and submit a suitable proposal for both the State and the contractor.

In the second clarification meeting, he wrote: We request an extension of the deadline for submitting the proposal for an additional 60 calendar days beyond the deadline established in the bidding terms. In addition, there are numerous problems downloading the information from the ComprasMX platform, which has prevented us from obtaining the information promptly.

For its part, the Latin American General Contractor has kindly requested a 45-calendar-day extension for submitting proposals, given the nature and magnitude of the tender.

In both cases, they were informed last Friday that the delivery date is August 1.

Other companies participating in both processes are: Calzada Construcciones, Urales Constructions, Mota Engil Mexico, CICSA Operator, GAMI Engineering and Installations, COMSA Infrastructure, Jaguar Construction Engineers, and La Peninsular Construction Company.

Among the hundreds of questions posed to the agency headed by Andrés Lajous, one written by China Communications Construction Company México is: Will negotiation and coordination with freight service concessionaires be facilitated?

In response, they were told yes, and that "the bidder must ensure that the works do not interfere with the operation of the existing railway, so they will have to take these restrictions into account and adapt the work execution schedules, considering work windows so as not to affect the service's operation."