Bogotá is the largest city in Colombia, the capital of Colombia and the capital of the province of Cundinamarca, and one of the fastest-growing metropolises in all of Latin America. According to the data, the population of the urban area of Bogotá is about 7.9 million, and the population of the surrounding area is about 10.7 million. For years, many people who work in Bogotá and whose homes are in the surrounding area struggle with long commutes and can only return home once on weekends.
Hopefully, this situation will change. Today, the Bogotá West Tramway, a commuter line connecting the area around Bogotá with cities in the province of Cundinamarca, where Bogotá is located, is under construction, which will allow people around the route to reduce their commuting time to thirty or forty minutes.
Construction site of the Bogotá West Tram Project
The 39.62-kilometre two-track tram line has 17 stations along the way, is electrically protracted, has a base design speed of 100 km/h, an actual maximum operating speed of 70 km/h, and an estimated daily passenger capacity of 140,000. The entire construction period of the project is two years and six months.
Construction site of the Bogotá West Tram Project
Zhang Haiyan, the contractor of the project, deputy general manager of the Colombian branch of China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (CSEC) and general manager of the Western Tram Project, introduced the relevant situation of the project.
Haiyan Zhang: The more complicated part of this project is the pipeline, with 868 pipelines on a line of nearly 40 kilometers. We need to change these pipelines, and the relevant relocation plan needs to be approved by both the property owner and the supervisor, but because it is difficult to unify the opinions of the owner and the property owner, if this problem cannot be solved, the construction start date will be uncertain.
Zhang Haiyan introduced the tram project in the west of Bogotá
Xiao Guangming, deputy general manager and design director of the EPC of the Bogotá West Tram Project, introduced their work to the reporter of the main station.
Xiao Guangming: There is a 13-hour time difference between us and the motherland, because of the tight design cycle and the cooperation of domestic design units, we often have to hold design seminars in China during the day, that is, in Colombia at night, and many times we have to open until the early morning of Colombia, and the next day we need to arrange work tasks with local employees and subcontractors, so some colleagues will stay up late. Under this sense of responsibility, through everyone's efforts, when one problem after another is solved, everyone will have a sense of pride in contributing to the project.
Xiao Guangming at work
Colombia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. According to the data, there are more than 54,600 species of animals and vascular plants in Colombia. Due to the unique natural environment and ecosystem, Colombians have high requirements for environmental protection. Xia Qingtao, general manager of China Civil Engineering Columbia Branch, gave an example to the reporter of the main station.
Xia Qingtao: For me, the most impressive thing is their requirements for environmental impact assessment. During the construction of the Anne Depot, there was a tree in the construction area and there was a bird's nest on the tree, and we wanted to move the tree out with the bird's nest, but we couldn't do it here. First of all, the environmental department must be asked to screen the type of bird to determine whether it belongs to the protected animal (bird), and then make the next step of relocation planning. If the mother bird is not able to disturb and move during the incubation period, only the baby bird can spread its wings and fly, it can move. We are touched by their efforts to preserve the diversity of the environment. In order not to affect the construction period, we have worked in advance in the future EIA work, which has won the trust and praise of Colombia.
Xia Qingtao at the Bogotá West Tram Project Meeting
Nowadays, a number of infrastructure projects undertaken by Chinese companies in Colombia are under construction, from the construction of Metro Line 1 in the capital Bogotá to the construction of the 80 Avenue light rail project in Medellin, the second largest city. Wang Yuqin, Chinese director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Tadeo in Bogotá, said that more and more people are studying XiChinese in Colombia today.
Wang Yuqin: The number of students studying XiChinese has increased from four to five hundred per year to more than 3,000 per year. The local population is also learning more about China, and there is more information about China on TV and in the news. As we walk along the road, more people will recognize us and greet us warmly. In 2023, the Bogotá Municipal Education Bureau and the Confucius Institute at the University of Tadeo officially signed an agreement on the Chinese Language Excellence Program to provide Chinese and culture courses for more than 200 public primary and secondary schools under its umbrella. The signing of this agreement marks the official entry of Chinese into public primary and secondary schools in Colombia, which is of symbolic significance.
Wang Yuqin, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Tadeo in Bogotá (middle)
Bogotá Western Regional Tram, Bogotá Metro Line 1, Medellín Avenue 80 Light Rail Project...... These infrastructure construction projects undertaken by Chinese companies have brought tangible benefits to Colombia and new opportunities for the local people. Febor Lopez, manager of the finance department of the Bogotá tram project, said the tram project had "opened the door" for his career.
Febor Lopez: [Because] of the Bogotá West Tram project, I would like to work on it for a few more years in Middle-earth. Working here has given me a lot of opportunities to improve, it's like knocking on a door, and wherever I go in the future, I feel like I have the skills to do it. China has a lot of infrastructure projects in Colombia and around the world, and one day when this project is completed, I can go to other projects and continue to work.
Reporter丨Deng Xuemei
Editor丨Lin Ying
Host丨Ge Peng
Production丨Yang Xiaolei
Signing丨Enron
Producer丨Pan Xiaoying