Rail transport in Brazil

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Current rail network (excluding local public transport)

The longest stretch of the rail network in Brazil was 30,374 kilometers. The construction of the lines took place in different periods, one reason why a standardization of the gauge did not take place. Even today there are gauges of 600 mm, 760 mm, 1000 mm, 1435 mm and 1600 mm and thus problems in making rail traffic effective.

The Brazilian railroad network is very small in relation to the size of the country, often single-track and generally in poor condition. There is hardly any passenger traffic any more. Freight traffic, on the other hand, is currently increasing again due to the congestion of the roads in some areas; In particular, the large mining companies are dependent on rail traffic.

history

Passengers on a train in 1911 on the railway station of Lavras ( Minas Gerais )

The history of the Brazilian railroad goes back to 1854. In that year the first railway line with a gauge of 1676 mm was completed from the port of Mauá, in the then province of Rio de Janeiro on the Guanabara Bay, to Fragoso in the Brazilian hinterland. The Baroneza steam locomotive drove on these first 14 kilometers . In 1856 this line was extended to Raiz da Serra and 30 years later, under the Estrada de Ferro Leopoldina railway company , it was extended into the mountains to Petrópolis . At practically the same time, numerous railway lines in Brazil were put into operation by regional railway companies.

The establishment of a superordinate, state-owned railway company goes back to 1957. From 18 (later 19) regional sole proprietorships, on March 16, 1957, on the basis of Decree No. In 3277 the state railway company Rede Ferroviária Federal (RFFSA) was founded. In 1996 it was privatized. The RFFSA route network contained regular lines in passenger and freight traffic . The RFFSA company was finally dissolved in 2004. With the dissolution of the RFFSA, the route network was regionalized and licensed to companies for private use.

Former railway companies

The foundation stone for the first EF Mauá railway line was laid in 1852 by Emperor Dom Pedro II and other personalities

The idea of ​​building railroad lines arose in Brazil between 1850 and 1860, when landowners, traders and industrialists were looking for a way to bring coffee and raw materials to the coast from the hinterland of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and in Minas Gerais transport. To this end, many regional railway companies were founded, each of which built up a large network of lines. In the course of time up to the end of the century, a process of concentration took place in which smaller railway companies were swallowed up by larger ones. The companies were heavily dependent on the demand and the price of the goods they transported, and so it often happened that railway companies got into financial difficulties in times of crisis and during both world wars. Lines therefore often changed hands.

In 1957, the Brazilian state decided to intervene centrally in the railway business and merged 19 of the largest companies for the Rede Ferroviária Federal (RFFSA). Unfortunately, this new approach was not a cure for Brazil either and so the great route extinction began in the 1980s and 1990s under the direction of the RFFSA. Following this period from 1996 to 1998, the remaining active routes of the RFFSA were licensed and divided between various private railway companies. At this point in time, with a few exceptions, rail passenger traffic in Brazil was practically non-existent. Only suburban trains in the large metropolises still use the old routes to organize shuttle traffic to work. The following list (sorted by provinces / or today's federal states) includes the most important railway companies that operated railway lines in Brazil from 1855 to 1957:

Bahia :

  • Estrada de Ferro Bahia ao São Francisco
  • Estrada de Ferro Bahia-Minas
  • Estrada de Ferro Central da Bahia
  • Estrada de Ferro Centro-Oeste da Bahia
  • Estrada de Ferro Ilhéus
  • Estrada de Ferro Nazaré
  • Estrada de Ferro Petrolina a Teresina
  • Estrada de Ferro Santo Amaro
  • Viação Férrea Federal do Leste Brasileiro

Espírito Santo :

Minas Gerais :

Paraná :

  • Estrada de Ferro Guaíra
  • Estrada de Ferro Norte do Paraná
  • Estrada de Ferro Paraná (EFP)
  • Estrada de Ferro São Paulo Rio Grande (EFSPRG) SP-RG
  • Ferropar S / A = ferrous residues
  • Speech de Viação Paraná-Santa Catarina (RVPSC)

Rio de Janeiro (State) :

Santa Catarina :

  • Estrada de Ferro Santa Catarina
  • Ferrovia Teresa Cristina

São Paulo (State) :

Other states:

Current railway companies

Brazilian rail network in kilometers (as of 2008) according to gauge
Railway companies with concessions origin 1,600 mm in km 1,000 mm in km Mixed in km Total distance in km
ALL - América Latina Logística Malha Oeste SA RFFSA - 1,945 - 1,945
FCA - Ferrovia Centro Atlântica SA RFFSA - 7.910 156 8,066
MRS - MRS Logística SA RFFSA 1,632 - 42 1,674
FTC - Ferrovia Tereza Cristina SA RFFSA - 164 - 164
ALL - América Latina Logística Malha Sul SA RFFSA - 7,293 11 7,304
FERROESTE Estrada de Ferro Paraná Oeste Ferropar - 248 - 248
EFVM - Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas ( Vale SA ) - - 905 - 905
EFC - Estrada de Ferro Carajas - 892 - - 892
Transnordestina Logística SA RFFSA - 4.189 18th 4,207
ALL - América Latina Logística Malha Paulista SA RFFSA 1,463 243 283 1,989
ALL - América Latina Logística Malha Norte SA - 500 - - 500
Vale SA : Ferrovia Norte-Sul SA (under construction) - 420 (1560) - - 420
VALEC: Ferrovia Oeste-Leste (under construction) - 530 (960) - - 530
CBTU Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos - 57 149 - 206
CENTRAL - Companhia Estadual de Engenharia de Transportes e Logística - 17th 75 - 92
Trombetas / Jarí / Supervia / Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão - 520 102 - 622
Estrada de Ferro Amapá / CPTM / Trensurb / Metrô São Paulo and Metrô do Rio de Janeiro - 382 201 - 583
Total length of the railway lines according to gauge in km - 6,413 23,424 510 30,247

Freight transport

Long-distance transport

Brazilian freight transport by rail development since 1998
description 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
General cargo 73.8 72.9 80.9 91.7 98.0 99.4 101.8 117.4 100.6 106.9 120.4 *
Bulk cargo 185.5 183.1 207.2 199.9 217.8 237.0 266.5 268.6 306.0 338.3 373.8 *
Total in million TU ** 259.3 256.0 288.1 291.6 315.8 336.4 368.3 386.2 406.6 445.2 494.2

Remarks:

* estimated quantities
** TU: Transport in millions of tons

The difference between private and state investments in Brazil in the field of freight transport is enormous. Since the entire system was privatized 12 years ago and concessions were issued, the private railway companies in Brazil have invested over 30 billion reals = approx. 10 billion euros in the maintenance of the lines, repair and replacement of wagons and locomotives as well as the use of new technologies. Most private railway companies have equipped their trains with GPS systems so that practically everything in the control centers can be traced immediately. At the same time, the government only invested around 800 million reals in expanding the route network. although there is a great demand for freight transport by rail and the expansion of the networks in Brazil. There is a lack of rail capacities and the expansion is only progressing slowly. Since the end of 2009, there have been new political efforts to vigorously expand the freight transport route network due to economic pressure in Brazil.

New construction projects in freight transport by rail 2010 to 2020
Surname route Costs (in R $ million) Stand / note
Ferrovia Norte-Sul Barcarena (PA) -Açailandia (MA) -Guaraí (TO) -Palmas (GO) -Anapolis (GO) - Estrela d Oeste (SP) 6,500 Açailândia-Guaraí finished, Guaraí-Anapolis under construction, Anapolis-Estrela d Oeste in preparation, Barcarena-Açailandia in planning
Integração Oeste-Leste Ilhéus -Figeirópolis (TO) 6,000 Sections before tendering
Transnordestina Logística Eliseu Martins (PI) -Salgueiro (PE) -Missão Velha-Port Pecém and Salgueiro-Port Suape (PE) - Porto Real (AL) 5,420 Salgueiro-Missão Velha should be completed by April 2010, but construction did not begin until the end of 2010, remaining under construction, total distance to 2013 [date] completed are
Ferrovia do Frango Dionísio Cerqueira-Port Itajaí (SC) 1,700 Before construction starts
Ferronorte Rondonopolis (MT) -Alto Aragauia (MT) 780 Under construction and partially licensed
Variant of Ferrovia Litoranea Sul Tubarão Port-Ubu-Cachoeira do Itapemirim Port 770 planning phase
Port access Paranaguá Guarapuava- Paranaguá (PR) 700 planning phase
Port access Santos Modification of the access to the Margem Direita 40 planning phase
Ferroanel Rail ring around the city of São Paulo 20th Project studies completed
Ferrovia Litorânea Imbituba (SC) -Araquari (SC) 15th planning phase
Ferrosul Panorama (SP) -Chapecó (SC) - Rio Grande (RS) k. A. project phase
Ferrovia 354 Ipatinga (MG) - Brasília -Uruaçu (GO) k. A. project phase

The few large private railway companies that inherited the RFFSA's track systems in the hinterland concentrated almost exclusively on freight traffic. The removal of ores and minerals plays a major role here.

The following large transport companies work in the field of rail transport today:

Other railway companies :

These private railway companies collectively transport large quantities of goods such as: ores and raw materials, agricultural goods, fuel, paper, wood, coffee, containers and other goods. On the other hand, there is only passenger transport on a few routes (for example at EFVM from Vale SA ).

Light railways for transporting bananas

Light railways to transport bananas northeast of Itanhaém

Light railways open up numerous banana plantations in the coastal region of the state of São Paulo ( Baixada Santista ) and the valley of the Rio Ribeira de Iguape . They led from the plantations to the next train station of the Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana or Estrada de Ferro Santos a Jundiaí , from where the bananas were mostly transported to Santos or São Paulo :

  • Piaçagüera
  • Itanhaém
  • Fazenda Araraú
  • Fazenda Áurea
  • Fazenda Caepupu
  • Fazenda Jatobatuba
  • Fazenda Laranjeiras
  • Fazenda São Francisco

Forest railways

The Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana operated a narrow-gauge forest railway in Mongaguá for the transport of firewood.

passenger traffic

Brazil has comparatively little rail-bound long-distance passenger transport . In the 1980s, many routes were closed to passenger traffic by the state company Rffsa . This long-distance traffic was mainly shifted to regular buses . Today there are three long-distance railway lines in the largest country in South America that allow passenger traffic . In long-distance passenger transport, Brazil continues to rely on scheduled buses and air traffic between the metropolises (shuttle services). Since 2009 there have been efforts to expand the Rio - São Paulo railway line for the use of a high-speed train .

The situation is different in suburban and local transport . In the last few years, many railway lines have been reactivated or the offer expanded again in the big cities. In addition, new subway networks have been built, or these are still under construction or expansion. It was discovered here that the large streams of passengers can no longer be transported in any other way.

Most local transport projects made little progress until 2016.

Long-distance transport

Map of the railways in Brazil

The only longer routes on which regular passenger transport is still offered with a bit of comfort are:

  • The route Belo Horizonte ( MG ) - Vitória ( ES ), with branch route Nova Era - Itabira (EFVM)
  • The São Luís ( MA ) - Parauapébas ( PA ) line (EF Carajás)
  • The route Porto Santana ( AP ) - Serra do Návio ( AP ) , (EF Amapá)

Regional trains

The national bank for social development BNDES has read out 14 regional railway lines of 50 to 250 km in length, each with at least one place of over 100,000 inhabitants, on which a profitable (profitable) passenger transport can be carried out. Among others: Porto Alegre - Santa Maria, Londrina - Maringá, Fortaleza - Sobral, Japerí - Barra do Piraí, Barra do Piraí - Barra Mansa, Juiz de Fora - Santos Dumont, São Paulo - Campinas, Campos - Macaé, Belo Horizonte - Divinópolis, Salvador - São Francisco / Alagoinhas, São Francisco do Sul - Corupá.

However, the government of the state of São Paulo wants to set up regional trains from São Paulo to Sorocaba and Santos by 2014. The state of Minas Gerais wants to set up regional trains on the Conselheiro Lafaiete - Belo Horizonte and Bocaiúva - Janaúba routes within 2 years and even subsidize them. The state of Piauí is working on the project to set up regional trains Teresina - Altos and Teresina - Caxias, a long-term project is also the reconstruction of the Altos - Parnaíba line for freight and passenger traffic Teresina - Parnaíba.

Suburban trains (Metropolitanos)

Subways

Railway lines used for tourism

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b ANTT Brazilian Ministry of Transport Overview 2009 ( memento of March 27, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: antt.gov.br, accessed November 30, 2019.
  2. ↑ Transport Ministry DNIT / ANTF - Annual Report 2009. In: dnit.gov.br, December 21, 2009, last updated on May 8, 2015, accessed on November 30, 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Oliver Döhne: Brazil's freight transport should be on the rails. High logistics costs lead to rethinking / government wants to expand the rail network ( Memento from April 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ). In: gtai.de, February 24, 2010, accessed November 30, 2019.
  4. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  6. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  8. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  11. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  13. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  15. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  17. ↑ Map in the Internet Archive : JPEG image file ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  18. ^ A b Antonio Augusto Gorni: Decauville Railways in Banana Plantations.
  19. ↑ Germany Trade & Invest News. (No longer available online.) In: gtai.de. August 8, 2016, formerly in the original ; accessed on November 30, 2019 (no mementos).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.gtai.de .
  20. ^ Tough expansion of rail transport in Brazil , April 21, 2016.
  21. ↑ www.metrofor.ce.gov.br. Retrieved November 30, 2019.