BERLIN -- A collaboration agreement has been signed in Berlin between Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and Argentine Railways, railway sources said Thursday.

 The agreement signed Wednesday in Berlin at InnoTrans by the CEO of FS, Renato Mazzoncini, and the President of Argentine Railways, Guillermo Fiad, will primarily involve the implementation of railway cooperation projects, the performance of consultancy services, the implementation of training activities and the certification of railway components.

 The Gruppo FS Italiane is particularly interested in developing the infrastructure of the Argentine railway network, assisting Argentine Railways with the ongoing reorganisation process with a view to increasing the efficiency and profitability of business, supporting the RER Programme (Red de Expresos Regionales) for the creation of an interoperable network of railway connections in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, and helping with setting up a bi-oceanic corridor that would connect the Argentine and Chilean railway networks.

 The agreement will also promote the extension of Italferr’s current collaboration (Gruppo FS Italiane) in Argentina on the Sarmiento Project, covering the burying of 36 km of line, including 16 km in tunnels, in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires. With this in mind, back in May this year, Italferr signed an initial contract for the Sarmiento Project, which was considered to be strategic for the capital’s road system, involving the international group of the Argentine company, Lecsa, the Italian firm, Ghella, and the Brazilian conglomerate, Odebrecht, called UTE CNS (Union Temporal de Empresas Consorcio Nuevo Sarmineto).

 The Argentine government is promoting a national development plan that for 2016-2019 includes dlrs 33 billion of investment, including dlrs 10.3 billion for urban railways and dlrs 2.6 billion for the rail freight sector. As part of this investment programme, the Argentine government has launched the “Belgrano Plan”, providing dlrs 16.3 billion for priority infrastructures and dlrs 5.5 billion for the upgrading of 3,800 km of railway line.

 nkd