USTDA Sector Brief - Rail & Mass Transit

The ability to move products and people around quickly and efficiently is key to a country’s ability to promote economic growth and foster development. For this reason, transportation projects, including rail modernization and expansion, are a central component of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) program.

USTDA advances economic development and U.S. commercial interests in developing and middle-income countries. The agency funds various forms of technical assistance, early investment analysis, training, orientation visits and business workshops that support the development of a modern infrastructure and a fair and open trading environment. USTDA's strategic use of foreign assistance funds to support sound investment policy and decision-making in host countries creates an enabling environment for trade, investment and sustainable economic development. In carrying out its mission, USTDA gives emphasis to economic sectors that may benefit from U.S. exports of goods and services.

The following is an illustrative list of projects that USTDA has supported in this sector:

East Asia

China Guangzhou Metro Line 4 – USTDA has approved a $500,420 grant for a study on technical standards and system requirements for Line 4 of the Guangzhou metro system. This high-speed light rail project, the first in China, will expand the municipality's existing metro system and provide the city's growing population greater access to environmentally friendly transportation. The Louis Berger Group, Inc. of Washington, DC, is the prime contractor.

China Railway Intermodal Container Transport Development – USTDA approved a $679,550 grant to review China's approach to intermodal container business, recommend options to improving the service, develop a plan to increase intermodal rail transport business, and build on the prior work by the World Bank and others. Transportation Economic Research Associates was selected to undertake the study.

Europe and Eurasia

Russia Construction Equipment – USTDA provided a $120,000 grant to partially fund a study on a construction equipment leasing joint venture. Hoffman International of Piscataway, New Jersey, conducted the study. As a result of the study and a related visit by Russian officials to the United States, Hoffman and its Russian partner have established the joint venture, and U.S. companies have sold over $10 million in highway construction equipment.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Mexico SCT Multimodal National Plan – USTDA provided a $1,323,900 grant to assist Mexico's Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes in developing a comprehensive national plan for modernizing Mexico's multimodal trade transportation infrastructure. Implementation of this project will strengthen Mexican competitiveness by creating greater commercial efficiencies and lowering costs along supply chains.

Paraguay Road Pavement Technology – This $362,432 technical assistance grant, funded through the USTDA Evergreen Fund at the Inter-American Development Bank, is helping Paraguay's Ministry of Public Works and Communications address performance problems related to road construction in the Chaco region of Paraguay. The technical assistance will support the implementation of IDB-financed road projects in Paraguay by improving road pavement design and construction through the development of technical specifications, construction guidelines and test protocols for long-lasting pavements, and the provision of training on the new guidelines.

Peru Urban Rail Project in Lima – A $325,000 grant is supporting a feasibility study for the Lima and Callao Transit System Special Project Authority in its efforts to alleviate Lima’s severe urban transport congestion problems. The project envisions the construction of a system of infrastructure and rolling stock that will operate over two main axes from Callao to Chosica as an initial step.

Middle East and North Africa

Iraq Railway Strategic Plan – As a follow-up to two prior Railway sector Orientation Visits, USTDA is funding the development of a strategic business plan, environmental management plan, and priority investment plan for Iraqi Republic Railways, as well as recommendations on the organization, management, and regulatory structure for the rail sector.

Egypt Railway Traffic Management System – USTDA is providing a $600,000 grant to the Egyptian Ministry of Transport to assist in developing a Railway Traffic Management System for the Egyptian National Railways (ENR). It will also assist with the creation of an independent railway safety oversight and enforcement authority to monitor ENR’s compliance with safe operating practices.

South and Southeast Asia

India Diesel Retrofit Project – USTDA awarded a $296,000 technical assistance grant to the Pune Municipal Corporation to retrofit a subset of local diesel buses with cleaner fuel and innovative emissions control technology in Pune, India. The long-term objective of the diesel retrofit project is to develop and transfer experience, tools, technologies and approaches for characterizing and controlling emissions from heavy-duty diesel vehicles in Pune, which may then be replicated in other Indian cities.

Philippines Metro Manila Rail Transit Integration Study – USTDA provided $103,566 for advisory services to the Philippine Department of Transportation in their efforts to link six separate light railroad lines in Manila. The project involved providing project scopes, design of stations and interchange facilities, and input on the operations of existing and future light rail projects. The assistance was completed by Parsons Brinckerhoff International.

Sub-Saharan Africa

African Trade Lanes Partnership – USTDA launched a two-year, $4 million initiative in April 2008 to promote the development of sub-Saharan Africa’s trade lanes and transportation networks to facilitate local, regional and global trade. The initiative is designed to promote regional cooperation and connectivity in all modes of transportation, including aviation, maritime, land, and rail.

South Africa KwaZulu Natal – Gauteng Integrated Rail Freight Project - USTDA provided the KwaZulu Natal Ministry of Economic Development and Tourism with a $500,000 grant to carry out a feasibility study on infrastructure and business structure improvements for integrated rail freight conveyance over the rail corridor. CSX World Terminals of Charlotte, North Carolina, carried out the study on a cost-share basis.

TransKalahari Corridor Improvement Project – USTDA is co-funding a $375,807 feasibility study for the development of a business plan for the Walvis Bay Corridor Group in Namibia. The plan will examine the operation of an integrated multimodal transport system on the TransKalahari Corridor, now an all-road link between northern South Africa and Walvis Bay in Namibia, traversing Botswana. TERA International, Inc., of Sterling, Virginia, is completing the study on a cost-share basis.

Africa Regional Chipata Rail Extension Project – USTDA provided a $210,450 grant to the Central East African Railways Company Limited (EARCL), for a feasibility study on the Chipata Rail Extension and Inland Terminal Project in Zambia. Harral Winner Sharp Thompson and Lawrence was selected by the EARCL to carry out the study.

South Africa Transport Sector Orientation Visit – USTDA provided $181,864 to host South African Department of Transportation delegates on a visit to the United States in early 2007. The visit exposed the delegates to U.S. technologies, companies, policies, and practices in this sector, especially in ITS. The Cornell Group organized the visit.