CRRC Changchun do Brasil Railway Equipamentos e Servicos Lda, the Brazilian subsidiary of Chinese state-owned CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd, forms part of the consortium that won the US$4 billion contract to build the first elevated railway in Bogota, Bloomberg reports.

The news agency quotes Mayor Enrique Penalosa of Bogota as saying the consortium, Apca Transmimetro, also includes two other Chinese companies, China Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd and  Xi’an Metro Co. Ltd, and a Canadian maker of train sets, Bombardier Inc.

The report says work on the 24 km elevated railway, including building the stations and re-configuring the roads along the route, is due to begin next year and last five years.

Apca Transmimetro will then run the railway for 20 years, the report says.

The railway is designed to carry up to 70,000 passengers an hour between the southern part of Bogota and the main financial centre of the city, Bloomberg says.