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The state-owned Bogotá Metro Company (EMB - Empresa Metro de Bogotá) and Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN), Colombia's development finance institution, have issued a Request for Expressions of Interest to parties interested in participating in the tender process to select a suitable partner to take responsibility for the preliminary studies, design, financing, construction, procurement, testing, commissioning, operation and maintenance of the first section of Line 1 of the Bogotá Metro.

The line will travel 24km through the city, the capital of Colombia, located in the centre of the country. Trains will run every three minutes, stopping at 16 stations and handling 72,000 passengers a day. Cost estimates for the project range between US$3.6 billion and US$5 billion.

EMB and FDN have stressed that the purpose of this RFEOI is solely informative, to indicate to the authorities and their advisors who are potential proponents of the project in order to further the studies being undertaken on how to structure the project. Responding is not compulsory for participating in later stages of the tender process, nor does it give respondents any qualification rights.

The deadline to respond is 17 May 2018. For more information, see the Business Opportunity.

Following the publishing of the RFEOI, EMB has announced that the tender will cover civil works, rolling stock and railway systems. The works will involve the renovation of the roads on which the metro stations will be located to prioritise pedestrians, bicycles and public transport, in an effort to build a greener city.

One successful bidder, either a sole company or a consortium, will take responsibility for all of the aspects of the project. This structure was recommended by FDN following several studies and detailed analysis of similar projects around the world.

The project was initially planned to be tendered in July 2015, having been included in the government's National Development Plan 2014-2018. The Colombian Minister of Finance has stated publicly that the tender process will be launched in July. The authorities aim to achieve commercial close in April 2019 and inaugurate the first train in 2025.

The Mayor of Bogotá is currently leading a roadshow of the project in London, consisting of presentations to various international investors.