The Ministry of Public Works signed a contract yesterday with Consorcio para el Desarrollo Ferroviario Nacional. The consortium plans to invest US$300 million to build a 160-kilometer long railway from the Port of Haina to Santiago, in the center of the DR. Minister Miguel Maldonado said the tracks will go up on a 15 meter strip on both sides of the Duarte Highway. The government concession is for 50 years, after which the railroad will belong to the Dominican state. Work is scheduled to start at the end of the year once the environmental impact studies are completed. The railroad would carry freight and passengers. It should be operational in 30 months. The company also contemplates a second phase, when the railroad will be extended to Puerto Plata and Manzanillo along the North Coast. Hoy newspaper also reports the possibility of the construction of another railroad. On 20 March 2000, the Consejo Regional de Desarrollo de San Francisco de Macoris announced a project to rebuild the railroad that linked Sanchez (Samana province) with La Vega. There are also plans to extend the railroad to Mao and Haiti in the Northwest. A German company would carry out this project.
