Brazil to hold high-speed rail auction on May 2

BRASILIA Feb 4 (Reuters) - Brazil will hold an auction on May 2 for contractors to build a $17.4 billion high-speed rail to link the cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas, the president's chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff, said on Thursday.

The 511-kilometer (320-mile) railway project has drawn interest of international companies such as France's Alstom (ALSO.PA), Germany's Siemens (SIEGn.DE), and Japan's Mitsui & Co (8031.T), local media have reported.

"We'll hold the auction on May 2," Rousseff said.

The railway would be ready between 2014 and 2016, said Rousseff, who is also the likely presidential candidate of the ruling Workers' Party in elections on Oct. 3.

"By the Olympics, we are certain. By the World Cup, there may be parts of the railway, but not the whole line," she said at an event in Brasilia.

Brazil will host the soccer World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016.

($1=1.883 reais)

(Reporting by Fernando Exman; Writing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa; Editing by Raymond Colitt and Richard Chang)