The Intermodal Association of South America (AIMAS) considered the possible arrival of Grupo México Transportes (GMXT) to Argentina to be positive, as it would attract other companies and boost intermodal transport and its expansion in the region.
“What will save Argentina’s economy and railways will not be privatization itself, but the model that railway companies implement. The integrated North American railway model, plus the expansion proposed by AIMAS, in strong alliance with the region’s trucking (and shipping) industry, will have a positive impact on the entire region,” said Jorge de Mendonça, president of the organization.
In an interview with T21, he commented that the development of the railway industry in Argentina will also impact neighboring countries such as Brazil, Chile and other nations .
Federico Ignacio Weinhold, treasurer of AIMAS, reiterated that the railway in particular and the economy have a new opportunity for their rebirth.
“Seeking to assimilate and apply lessons learned from countries that seriously and sustainably improved their rail logistics, such as Mexico, the United States and Canada, with a particular emphasis on transparent, reliable and long-term regulatory frameworks, the right incentive system and incremental improvements, plus a commercial supply capacity that keeps pace with current and future demand, which is increasingly sophisticated across all sectors, sizes and locations of the economy,” he said.
For his part, Daniel Marcelo Campana, a railway and automotive technician at AIMAS, considered that Argentina has lost the capacity to audit the railway , so it will be necessary to create a regional authority similar to that of airplanes, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) , where each local control authority must ensure compliance with international standards.
In that regard, he stressed that the regulations and processes must be those required by the region and not a simple licensed import from other continents.
Similarly, he explained that Ferromex’s proposed model of vertically integrated rail and intermodality represents a complete paradigm shift , which will generate resistance from business owners who profit from this transportation system by effectively disregarding its public service nature. “This resistance will manifest itself in angry, supposedly technical, opinions highlighting the impossibility of having a competitive railway in Argentina.”
Jorge de Mendonça offered the support and advice of the organization to companies that show interest in participating in the railway privatization process in Argentina .
He emphasized that what AIMAS proposes for Argentina and the region is the model that Ferromex is familiar with, so it will find interest among transporters, ports, universities and provinces, “people who are already paying attention, who are the ones to whom we have been suggesting the model for eight years.”
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