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Rail transport in Brazil

November 07, 2023

Rail transport in Brazil began in the 19th century and there were many different railway companies. The railways were nationalized under RFFSA (Rede Ferroviária Federal, Sociedade Anônima) in 1957. Between 1999 and 2007, RFFSA was broken up and services are now operated by a variety of private and public operators, including Rumo Logística, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos and SuperVia.

Rail transport in Brazil
Train at Luz Station, São Paulo
Operation
Infrastructure companyInfra S.A. [pt]
Major operatorsRumo Logística, MRS Logística, Vale S.A., VLI Multimodal S.A. [pt], CBTU [pt], CPTM
Statistics
Ridership1.8 billion (2021)[1]
System length
Total30,576 km (18,999 mi)[2] (2015)
Freight only29,074 km (18,066 mi)[3] (2022)
Track gauge
Metre gauge[3]
1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)		22,539 km (14,005 mi)
Irish gauge
1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)		7,432 km (4,618 mi)
Dual gauge
1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) and 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)		514 km (319 mi)
Electrification
3 kV DC[4]1,121 km (697 mi)
Features
Longest tunnelTunelão, 8.645 km (5.372 mi)[5]
No. stations619 (2021)[1]
Map
Brazilian railway network in 2016

Most railways in Brazil are for freight transportation or urban passenger transportation. Only two inter-city passenger railways survive: the Carajás Railway (connecting Pará and Maranhão) and the Vitória-Minas Railway (connecting Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais), both operated by Vale S.A.

Track gauge edit

The rail system in Brazil operates on three rail gauges:

A 12 km section of the former 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) gauge Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas is retained as a heritage railway.

  • Metros
 
Regional rail system in São Paulo

Metros operating, and under construction:

Tramways edit

 
Santa Teresa Tram in Rio de Janeiro
 
Interurban tramway in Campos do Jordão

Steam-powered, horse-drawn and electric tramways operated in Brazil from 1859 until 1989, new systems were introduced in the 1980s and 90s in Rio de Janeiro and Campinas with no success,[6] nevertheless, that may change soon as studies are being conducted to introduce tramway systems in Goiânia,[7] and Curitiba now plans a light metro to replace bus rapid transit (BRT) in a major corridor,[8] and in Cariri, the Cariri MetroTram that will run between Crato and Juazeiro do Norte is under construction.[9]

Passenger Rail edit

Intercity trains edit

Although Brazil has one of the largest rail networks, it lacks passenger transportation. Passenger trains were controlled by state-run companies until a mass privatization occurred in 1996–1999. By then, most tracks and rolling stock were in a very poor condition and most trains would not run over 60 km/h even on broad gauge, forcing the now private-run railway companies to shut down almost every single regional and long-distance services in the entire country in the next 5 years. The situation remains the same as of 2017.

Brazil is densely populated on the coast and southeast regions, making passenger train operation highly feasible; some areas, like the area north and east of São Paulo, have an extremely high demand for passenger trains,[10] with, for example, over 4 million inhabitants in the 150 km area north of Greater São Paulo and over 3 million inhabitants in the 450 km area between São Paulo and Rio that have absolutely no passenger rail transportation and rely on other transportation, like airplanes in the case of São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro air bridge, which is one of the busiest shuttle air routes in the world, with flights taking off every 10 minutes between both cities. And closer destinations (such as Greater Campinas, which have 3 million inhabitants and is just 90 km north of São Paulo) need to rely exclusively on intercity buses that are slow, have low capacity and are close to being completely saturated.

Currently the country's rail network is almost entirely used for heavy freight transport only, all of the electrification of routes which were used for intercity passenger trains in broad gauge lines in São Paulo (state) are completely dismantled, as well as most of the train stations that are now in ruins (some were refurbished and are used as museums, government facilities and other purposes). Much of the dual-track lines are also abandoned, with trains making use of only one track now, most of which are in a very basic state of maintenance, running at very slow speeds. The lines and branch lines which were used for passenger only, the current cargo companies had no interest in, and are now completely abandoned. Brazil today has only a few heritage railways and two long-distance trains operated by Vale on narrow gauge that are more of a tourist attraction because of the scenic journey than a transportation system, especially because of the slow operating speed (60 km/h maximum), making Brazil's land public transportation infrastructure one of the worst and slowest in the world.[11]

Rapid-transit and commuter edit

São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro both have extensive rapid transit and commuter train routes. Although there may be discussed that they are much less than it should be for cities with their proportions, both systems are almost fully electrified and mostly have modern air-conditioned EMUs. Both systems are in constant expansion, but São Paulo is growing much faster, with currently 6 projects of subway and commuter lines being applied (3 in construction and 3 in advanced planning).[12]

Apart from the large systems in Rio and São Paulo, the further cities in Brazil with smaller commuter train systems include the Cariri region, João Pessoa, Maceió, Natal, and Teresina. The other Brazilian metro systems are the Belo Horizonte Metro, Federal District Metro, Fortaleza Metro, Porto Alegre Metro, Recife Metro and Salvador Metro.

Future developments edit

 
Rio–São Paulo High-speed rail

In the light of the problems with the lack of intercity passenger rail transportation, there are many projects to reinstall fast passenger trains back to Brazil, although all of them are on halt due to the current political and financial crisis.

High-speed rail edit

Main article: High-speed rail in Brazil

In September 2008, Brazil's Transportation Ministry announced a high-speed train project for the world cup connecting São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas. This would cost US$15 billion. These lines will use 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

The current financial crisis has put this high-speed project on complete halt, and has no prediction on when it will be resumed.

Regional Trains in Sao Paulo edit

Main article: Trens Intercidades

In 2010, São Paulo state government showed off a project to build up 4 regional intercity trains routes connecting the area surrounding São Paulo with high population cities close by,[13] which today rely exclusively on intercity buses that are almost completely saturated and running at absurdly short intervals at full capacity. The original plan was for construction to start 2013–2014, but the Brazilian financial crisis that it is suffering since 2015 has put all projects on standby, and the next prediction is for construction to start only by 2025.

International link edit

On 23 August 2008, Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela agreed to develop an electrified long-distance passenger railway link between these countries. A minor hurdle is the use of both 50 Hz and 60 Hz railway electrification systems. There is also a confusion of gauges (3 gauges of 1435mm, 1600mm and 1676mm) to overcome.[14]

New freight line edit

A new metre gauge line from Maracaju via Cascavel to Paranaguá for agricultural products is proposed.[15]

Ferrogrão railway edit

A new north-south (1600mm gauge) line is planned, known as EF-170 and separate from the rest of the network, between Sinop in Mato Grosso state and the inland port of Miritituba in Pará state on the River Tapajós, first phase 933km. The line is expected to be used primarily for moving export grain and soy products from Mato Grosso state, but it would also carry fertilizer, sugar, ethanol and petroleum products: this traffic is currently carried on the BR163 trunk road.[16]

Railway links with adjacent countries edit

Country Location Line Gauge Brazilian Gauge Line Location
Argentina Paso de los Libres Urquiza 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) unknown Uruguaiana
Bolivia Puerto Suárez unknown 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) unknown Corumbá
Uruguay Rivera Linea Rivera 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) unknown Santana do Livramento
Uruguay Rio Branco Linea Rio Branco 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) unknown Jaguarão

Heaviest trains edit

Brazil has some of the heaviest iron ore trains in the world, and these run on the metre gauge track of the EFVM railway, these trains are pulled by a fleet of specially built locomotives that utilize 4-axle trucks or two pairs of 2-axle trucks with span bolsters. The first model of locomotive built specially for this duty was the DDM45, created by EMD in 1970. 83 examples were delivered to the EFVM. Later, in the early 1990s the EFVM also ordered BB40-8M models from General Electric and continues to order further BB40-9W models, also from GE.

However, a major power shortage occurred in 2002 across the Brazilian narrow-gauge systems. As new locomotives would be too expensive for many railways, or would take too long to be delivered for others, the solution was to buy second-hand standard gauge locomotives and fit them with new metre-gauge bogies. The number of axles was increased due to limitations with tractive effort output from the smaller metre-gauge traction motors.[17] The dual-truck axle conversion was fairly expensive, so not all railways could afford it; some, such as ALL (América Latina Logística) retained the original trucks, narrowing them to fit the new gauge and fitting smaller traction motors. Additional issues arose with the extra axles, primarily due to the increased length of locomotives creating excessive drawbar swing, causing some derailments on tighter curves.

History edit

Main article: History of rail transport in Brazil

From the 1930s to the 1970s, the railways were the main way to transport agricultural product from the rural farms to the ports. However, the different gauges, owners and severed connections between multiple networks lead to the abandonment of much of the rail network, being replaced with highways.

Predecessors edit

The first incentive to start building a rail network in Brazil occurred in 1828, when the then imperial government incentivized the building of all transport roads. The first significant try to build a railway was the founding on an Anglo-Brazilian company in Rio de Janeiro in 1832, which planned to connect the city of Porto Feliz to the port of Santos. The government, however, did not support the project and so it didn't progress any further.[18]

Three years later, in 1835, the regent Diogo Antônio Feijó passed the Imperial Law n.º 101, which conceded privileges for 40 years to whoever built railways connecting Rio de Janeiro to the capitals of Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and Bahia. Even with the incentives in place, no investor risked starting the project, as there wasn't any guarantee that this railway would be profitable. Some groups did study the possibility of building this railway and its profitability, including another group of English and Brazilian investors, but none of them actually started building the infrastructure.[19]

On 26 July 1852, Law 641, which gave advantages like a 90-year guarantee of a 33 km exclusion zone, the right to desapropriate any land that was "in the way", and a tax break for the import of railway material. However, it also came with an 8% limit to all dividends. With a revision of interest rate from 5% to 12%, the interest in building railways in Brazil spiked across the world, mainly in England, which was the main force behind the early construction efforts.[19]

First railways edit

 
Placing of the fundamental stone of the Estrada de Ferro Mauá, on 30 April 1854. The event had the presence of many Brazilian authorities, including Dom Pedro II
 
The first Brazilian locomotive, Baroneza, today being exhibited in the Museu do Trem in Rio de Janeiro
 
The first locomotive of the Recife and São Francisco Railway Company, the second oldest Brazilian railway

Some time before the enacting of Law 641, the banker Irineu Evangelista de Souza requested permission to build a railway connecting the Port of Mauá, in the Bay of Guanabara, to Raiz da Serra. This railway became effectively the first-ever Brazilian railway, being inaugurated on 30 April 1854, with only 14.5 km of track and 1,676m (5' 6") gauge. Irineu's company, Imperial Companhia de Navegação a Vapor - Estrada de Ferro Petrópolis ("Imperial Steam Navigation Company - Petropolis Railroad"), realized the first port-railway operation in Brazil, transporting cargo from the ship Praça XV to Raiz da Serra. The Estrada de Ferro Mauá had little value besides its political and symbolic values, however. Mauá directly and indirectly participated in the building of nine other railways in Brazil.

The first section of the Recife and São Francisco Railway Company, which had 31 km between Cinco Pontas in Recife and the vila do Cabo, opened to regular traffic on 8 February 1858. [20] This was the second-ever railway in Brazil, being managed by the first British company that settled in Brazil. The planned construction was only finished in 1862, due to delays caused by a variety of problems.

The first stretch of the Companhia Estrada de Ferro D. Pedro II ("Dom Pedro II Railroad Company") was opened on 29 March 1858, with the 47,21 km connection between the Estação da Corte and Queimados, in Rio de Janeiro. Later, with the proclamation of the republic, this railway was renamed the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil ("Central Brazil Railroad"), which was one of the main axis of connection between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in 1877, when the Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II connected to the Estrada de Ferro São Paulo.

 
Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II (1863)
 
Recife was the first city in the world to operate steam locomotives specially designed to run in the roads: the so-called "maxambomba" was inaugurated in 1867

In 1867, São Paulo Railway Ltd was founded: the first railway built in the state of São Paulo, connecting the Port of Santos with the coffee farms.

 
Station in Cruzeiro (SP), part of the Estrada de Ferro Minas e Rio. (1885)
 
Inauguration of the bridge over the Rio Paraíba in 1888.

In late 1889, when the republic was proclaimed, there were 9,583 km of active railways in Brazil, which served 14 of the 20 provinces. The government of the republic decided to start a new plan to build railways across Brazil, but few new railways were actually built because of the government financial crisis.

Expansion edit

 
Photo of the Estação da Luz in the 1900s, by Guilherme Gaensly

In 1907, the process of leasing out the Brazilian rail network started, with a statement from then president Campos Sales:

Our long experience has shown that there's no advantage in keeping the railways under national management. Giving them to the private initiative and stimulating their development not only relieves the national treasure but brings more utility for both commerce and industry.

During the years of the Old Republic, there was significant expansion of the rail network, reaching 29.000 km of rails, versus the 9.538 km that existed during the imperial period. The biggest expansion occurred in the state of São Paulo, where at its peak there were 18 railways, the biggest being the E.F Sorocabana, with 2074 km, Mogiana, with 1954 km, the E.F Noroeste do Brasil, with 1539 km and the Cia. Paulista de Estradas de Ferro with 1536 km, and the São Paulo railway, which held the connection with the port of Santos. Together, they helped the growth of agriculture and industry in the state.

Besides the railways in São Paulo, other significant railways were founded in this age, like the Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas in 1903 and the Madeira-Mamoré railway in 1912

Electric locomotives, planned since 1922, were introduced in the 1930s, to substitute steam locomotives in some stretches of track. In 1938, diesel-electric locomotives started operating in Brazil, and continue to be the main locomotives in use to this day.

Starting with the first government of Getúlio Vargas, the development of highways was prioritized, putting others ways, which until then had played key roles in national planning in the background. At this time, the nationalization of the railways also started, mainly the ones controlled by overseas companies. However, the lack of planning and investment in the interwar period made railways fall into disrepair, and few new tracks were laid.

Nationalization era edit

In the 50s, the government request a study into the state of the railways in Brazil, which as of 1956 represented 14% of the debt country-wide. On 30 September 1957, the Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA) was created, uniting 22 railways. Its objective was to standardize the railways, reduce the debts and modernize the network.

In 1971, the government of the state of São Paulo founded the other great state-owned railway, the FEPASA, uniting five railways already owned by the state. In the start, it had almost 5000 km of track, covering almost all of the state of São Paulo.

With the objective to reduce the debt of the railways, the used track was cut down to 32.163 km in 1964, and in the following years many branch lines which were considered uneconomical were closed down.

With the economical and political crisis that were happening in Brazil in the '70s, the RFFSA lost most of its budget. During the '80s, a lot of the network fell into permanent disrepair, and the railways, which were the most efficient method of transport lost much of its market share. In the end of the '80s, the RFFSA's budget was only 19% of what it was in the end of the '70s.

Privatization era edit

On 10 March 1992, the RFFSA entered Collor's de-nationalization program.

Due to the opening up of the economy, Brazil entering international markets and the need for better alternatives for cargo transport, the RFFSA was sold off to private companies in 1996, with FEPASA following up in 1997.

With the extinction of the RFFSA, most passenger lines were also extinct, with only the Trem de Prata, which connect Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo surviving for one more year, being extinct 1998.

Historic Tramways edit

Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world and had a hundred tram systems, almost as many as all the other Latin American countries combined. It had one of the world's first tramways: an 1859 system in Rio de Janeiro pre-dates street railway experiments in all European countries except France. Trams still operate in Rio today, over 150 years later. Brazil has one of the first steam-powered street railways and had the world's first steam locomotive designed specifically to work on the street. It had one of the world's first electric trams, Rio de Janeiro had electric streetcars before London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon and any other city in Latin America. Niterói, Brazil, may have been the first place where the trams were successfully fed by storage batteries. Brazil had the largest collection of American streetcars built outside the United States, and had the world's largest foreign-owned street railway empire.

Five trams were still operating in 1989, the Santa Teresa and Corcovado lines in Rio de Janeiro; the Campos do Jordão line near São Paulo; the Itatinga line near Bertioga; and the tourist tram in Campinas. A sixth line, the Tirirical tram near São Luís, ceased operation in 1983 but may be reactivated.[21]

Currently, there are vintage tramways operating in:

Historical Railway companies edit

Pre-1957 companies - this list is incomplete

State ownership edit


Locomotives edit

See also edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Brazil.

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Balanço do Setor Metroferroviário 2021/2022" (PDF). ANPTrilhos. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Extensão da Malha Ferroviária - 2015". ANTT.
  3. ^ a b Pelissari, Felipe Cesar Sabino; Biedacha, Marina Myszak; Noronha, Marcos Aurélio Marques; Bisconsini, Danilo Rinaldi (30 June 2023). "Bitolas ferroviárias no Brasil: uma análise de integração da malha nacional". Observatório de la Economía Latinoamericana. 21 (6): 5711–5732. doi:10.55905/oelv21n6-132. ISSN 1696-8352. S2CID 259725182.
  4. ^ Secretaria Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (2022). "Produto 1.A.1 – Proposição de Diretrizes para a Formulação de Proposta de PDTFP e de Planejamento do Transporte Ferroviário de Passageiros" (PDF): 249. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  5. ^ disse, Paulo César de Oliveira (16 December 2021). "Conheça o Tunelão, o maior túnel do Brasil". Ferrovia Vez e Voz (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  6. ^ Morrison, Allen. "Light Rail in Brazil - Two Sad Stories". Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  7. ^ "Goiânia (Brazil) eyes light rail transit system". Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  8. ^ "Curitiba (Brazil) now plans a "Light Metro" to replace "BRT" in a major corridor". Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  9. ^ . Archived from the original on 7 July 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009.
  10. ^ Smith, Kevin. "World Cup rail projects caught offside". Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  11. ^ Novais, Andréa (1 March 2013). "Railway infrastructure in Brazil". The Brazil Business. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Obras de Expansão e Modernização - Canal de Relacionamento | Metrô São Paulo". www.metro.sp.gov.br. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  13. ^ . www.stm.sp.gov.br. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  14. ^ . China Daily. Xinhua News Agency. 21 August 2008. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2008.
  15. ^ Railway Gazette International April 2009, page 62
  16. ^ "Ferrogrão railway concession to be tendered in 2021". Railway Gazette. 28 May 2020.
  17. ^ International Railway Journal, July, 2005 by Theodor A. Gevert – Re-gauging offers a cost-effective fleet upgrade
  18. ^ Borba, José Luiz (2007). Material de Tração [Traction Material] (Postgraduate degree in Railway Engineering thesis) (in Portuguese). Belo Horizonte: PUC Minas Gerais. p. 6.
  19. ^ a b Borba 2007, p. 6.
  20. ^ Borba 2007, p. 7.
  21. ^ "The tramways of Brazil". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  22. ^ "The Tramways of Campinas". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  23. ^ "The Tramways of Jordao". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  24. ^ "The Tramways of Itatinga". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  25. ^ "The Tramways of Rio de Janeiro". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  26. ^ "Santos The Tramways of Santos". Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  27. ^ "The Tramways of Belém". Retrieved 26 June 2008.

November 07, 2023
rail, transport, brazil, this, article, needs, updated, reason, given, latest, information, seems, from, 2008, please, help, update, this, article, reflect, recent, events, newly, available, information, august, 2022, began, 19th, century, there, were, many, d. This article needs to be updated The reason given is latest information seems to be from 2008 Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information August 2022 Rail transport in Brazil began in the 19th century and there were many different railway companies The railways were nationalized under RFFSA Rede Ferroviaria Federal Sociedade Anonima in 1957 Between 1999 and 2007 RFFSA was broken up and services are now operated by a variety of private and public operators including Rumo Logistica Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos and SuperVia Rail transport in BrazilTrain at Luz Station Sao PauloOperationInfrastructure companyInfra S A pt Major operatorsRumo Logistica MRS Logistica Vale S A VLI Multimodal S A pt CBTU pt CPTMStatisticsRidership1 8 billion 2021 1 System lengthTotal30 576 km 18 999 mi 2 2015 Freight only29 074 km 18 066 mi 3 2022 Track gaugeMetre gauge 3 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in 22 539 km 14 005 mi Irish gauge1 600 mm 5 ft 3 in 7 432 km 4 618 mi Dual gauge1 600 mm 5 ft 3 in and 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in 514 km 319 mi Electrification3 kV DC 4 1 121 km 697 mi FeaturesLongest tunnelTunelao 8 645 km 5 372 mi 5 No stations619 2021 1 MapBrazilian railway network in 2016Most railways in Brazil are for freight transportation or urban passenger transportation Only two inter city passenger railways survive the Carajas Railway connecting Para and Maranhao and the Vitoria Minas Railway connecting Espirito Santo and Minas Gerais both operated by Vale S A Contents 1 Track gauge 2 Tramways 3 Passenger Rail 3 1 Intercity trains 3 2 Rapid transit and commuter 4 Future developments 4 1 High speed rail 4 2 Regional Trains in Sao Paulo 4 3 International link 4 4 New freight line 4 5 Ferrograo railway 5 Railway links with adjacent countries 6 Heaviest trains 7 History 7 1 Predecessors 7 2 First railways 7 3 Expansion 7 4 Nationalization era 7 5 Privatization era 7 6 Historic Tramways 7 7 Historical Railway companies 7 7 1 State ownership 8 Locomotives 9 See also 10 ReferencesTrack gauge editThe rail system in Brazil operates on three rail gauges Broad gauge 4 932 kilometres 3 065 mi 1 600 mm 5 ft 3 in gauge Metre gauge 23 773 kilometres 14 772 mi 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in gauge Standard gauge 202 4 kilometres 125 8 mi 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in gauge line 5 of the Sao Paulo Metro so that it can use off the shelf equipment Estrada de Ferro do Amapa in the middle of the Amazon rainforest also used standard gauge Dual gauge 396 kilometres 246 mi 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in and 1 600 mm 5 ft 3 in gauges three rails 1999 est Total 29 303 kilometres 18 208 mi 1 520 kilometres 940 mi electrified A 12 km section of the former 2 ft 6 in 762 mm gauge Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas is retained as a heritage railway Metros nbsp Regional rail system in Sao PauloMetros operating and under construction Belo Horizonte Metro Cariri Metro Federal District Metro Fortaleza Metro Sistema de Trens Urbanos de Joao Pessoa Maceio Metro under construction Natal Metro Porto Alegre Metro Recife Metro Rio de Janeiro Metro Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area Salvador Metro Sao Paulo Metro Sao Paulo Metropolitan Area Teresina Diesel Light RailTramways edit nbsp Santa Teresa Tram in Rio de Janeiro nbsp Interurban tramway in Campos do JordaoSteam powered horse drawn and electric tramways operated in Brazil from 1859 until 1989 new systems were introduced in the 1980s and 90s in Rio de Janeiro and Campinas with no success 6 nevertheless that may change soon as studies are being conducted to introduce tramway systems in Goiania 7 and Curitiba now plans a light metro to replace bus rapid transit BRT in a major corridor 8 and in Cariri the Cariri MetroTram that will run between Crato and Juazeiro do Norte is under construction 9 Passenger Rail editIntercity trains edit Although Brazil has one of the largest rail networks it lacks passenger transportation Passenger trains were controlled by state run companies until a mass privatization occurred in 1996 1999 By then most tracks and rolling stock were in a very poor condition and most trains would not run over 60 km h even on broad gauge forcing the now private run railway companies to shut down almost every single regional and long distance services in the entire country in the next 5 years The situation remains the same as of 2017 update Brazil is densely populated on the coast and southeast regions making passenger train operation highly feasible some areas like the area north and east of Sao Paulo have an extremely high demand for passenger trains 10 with for example over 4 million inhabitants in the 150 km area north of Greater Sao Paulo and over 3 million inhabitants in the 450 km area between Sao Paulo and Rio that have absolutely no passenger rail transportation and rely on other transportation like airplanes in the case of Sao Paulo Rio de Janeiro air bridge which is one of the busiest shuttle air routes in the world with flights taking off every 10 minutes between both cities And closer destinations such as Greater Campinas which have 3 million inhabitants and is just 90 km north of Sao Paulo need to rely exclusively on intercity buses that are slow have low capacity and are close to being completely saturated Currently the country s rail network is almost entirely used for heavy freight transport only all of the electrification of routes which were used for intercity passenger trains in broad gauge lines in Sao Paulo state are completely dismantled as well as most of the train stations that are now in ruins some were refurbished and are used as museums government facilities and other purposes Much of the dual track lines are also abandoned with trains making use of only one track now most of which are in a very basic state of maintenance running at very slow speeds The lines and branch lines which were used for passenger only the current cargo companies had no interest in and are now completely abandoned Brazil today has only a few heritage railways and two long distance trains operated by Vale on narrow gauge that are more of a tourist attraction because of the scenic journey than a transportation system especially because of the slow operating speed 60 km h maximum making Brazil s land public transportation infrastructure one of the worst and slowest in the world 11 Rapid transit and commuter edit Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro both have extensive rapid transit and commuter train routes Although there may be discussed that they are much less than it should be for cities with their proportions both systems are almost fully electrified and mostly have modern air conditioned EMUs Both systems are in constant expansion but Sao Paulo is growing much faster with currently 6 projects of subway and commuter lines being applied 3 in construction and 3 in advanced planning 12 Apart from the large systems in Rio and Sao Paulo the further cities in Brazil with smaller commuter train systems include the Cariri region Joao Pessoa Maceio Natal and Teresina The other Brazilian metro systems are the Belo Horizonte Metro Federal District Metro Fortaleza Metro Porto Alegre Metro Recife Metro and Salvador Metro Future developments edit nbsp Rio Sao Paulo High speed railIn the light of the problems with the lack of intercity passenger rail transportation there are many projects to reinstall fast passenger trains back to Brazil although all of them are on halt due to the current political and financial crisis High speed rail edit Main article High speed rail in Brazil In September 2008 Brazil s Transportation Ministry announced a high speed train project for the world cup connecting Sao Paulo Rio de Janeiro and Campinas This would cost US 15 billion These lines will use 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gauge The current financial crisis has put this high speed project on complete halt and has no prediction on when it will be resumed Regional Trains in Sao Paulo edit Main article Trens Intercidades In 2010 Sao Paulo state government showed off a project to build up 4 regional intercity trains routes connecting the area surrounding Sao Paulo with high population cities close by 13 which today rely exclusively on intercity buses that are almost completely saturated and running at absurdly short intervals at full capacity The original plan was for construction to start 2013 2014 but the Brazilian financial crisis that it is suffering since 2015 has put all projects on standby and the next prediction is for construction to start only by 2025 International link edit On 23 August 2008 Argentina Brazil and Venezuela agreed to develop an electrified long distance passenger railway link between these countries A minor hurdle is the use of both 50 Hz and 60 Hz railway electrification systems There is also a confusion of gauges 3 gauges of 1435mm 1600mm and 1676mm to overcome 14 New freight line edit A new metre gauge line from Maracaju via Cascavel to Paranagua for agricultural products is proposed 15 Ferrograo railway edit A new north south 1600mm gauge line is planned known as EF 170 and separate from the rest of the network between Sinop in Mato Grosso state and the inland port of Miritituba in Para state on the River Tapajos first phase 933km The line is expected to be used primarily for moving export grain and soy products from Mato Grosso state but it would also carry fertilizer sugar ethanol and petroleum products this traffic is currently carried on the BR163 trunk road 16 Railway links with adjacent countries editCountry Location Line Gauge Brazilian Gauge Line LocationArgentina Paso de los Libres Urquiza 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in unknown UruguaianaBolivia Puerto Suarez unknown 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in unknown CorumbaUruguay Rivera Linea Rivera 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in unknown Santana do LivramentoUruguay Rio Branco Linea Rio Branco 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 000 mm 3 ft 3 3 8 in unknown JaguaraoHeaviest trains editBrazil has some of the heaviest iron ore trains in the world and these run on the metre gauge track of the EFVM railway these trains are pulled by a fleet of specially built locomotives that utilize 4 axle trucks or two pairs of 2 axle trucks with span bolsters The first model of locomotive built specially for this duty was the DDM45 created by EMD in 1970 83 examples were delivered to the EFVM Later in the early 1990s the EFVM also ordered BB40 8M models from General Electric and continues to order further BB40 9W models also from GE However a major power shortage occurred in 2002 across the Brazilian narrow gauge systems As new locomotives would be too expensive for many railways or would take too long to be delivered for others the solution was to buy second hand standard gauge locomotives and fit them with new metre gauge bogies The number of axles was increased due to limitations with tractive effort output from the smaller metre gauge traction motors 17 The dual truck axle conversion was fairly expensive so not all railways could afford it some such as ALL America Latina Logistica retained the original trucks narrowing them to fit the new gauge and fitting smaller traction motors Additional issues arose with the extra axles primarily due to the increased length of locomotives creating excessive drawbar swing causing some derailments on tighter curves History editMain article History of rail transport in Brazil From the 1930s to the 1970s the railways were the main way to transport agricultural product from the rural farms to the ports However the different gauges owners and severed connections between multiple networks lead to the abandonment of much of the rail network being replaced with highways Predecessors edit The first incentive to start building a rail network in Brazil occurred in 1828 when the then imperial government incentivized the building of all transport roads The first significant try to build a railway was the founding on an Anglo Brazilian company in Rio de Janeiro in 1832 which planned to connect the city of Porto Feliz to the port of Santos The government however did not support the project and so it didn t progress any further 18 Three years later in 1835 the regent Diogo Antonio Feijo passed the Imperial Law n º 101 which conceded privileges for 40 years to whoever built railways connecting Rio de Janeiro to the capitals of Minas Gerais Rio Grande do Sul and Bahia Even with the incentives in place no investor risked starting the project as there wasn t any guarantee that this railway would be profitable Some groups did study the possibility of building this railway and its profitability including another group of English and Brazilian investors but none of them actually started building the infrastructure 19 On 26 July 1852 Law 641 which gave advantages like a 90 year guarantee of a 33 km exclusion zone the right to desapropriate any land that was in the way and a tax break for the import of railway material However it also came with an 8 limit to all dividends With a revision of interest rate from 5 to 12 the interest in building railways in Brazil spiked across the world mainly in England which was the main force behind the early construction efforts 19 First railways edit nbsp Placing of the fundamental stone of the Estrada de Ferro Maua on 30 April 1854 The event had the presence of many Brazilian authorities including Dom Pedro II nbsp The first Brazilian locomotive Baroneza today being exhibited in the Museu do Trem in Rio de Janeiro nbsp The first locomotive of the Recife and Sao Francisco Railway Company the second oldest Brazilian railwaySome time before the enacting of Law 641 the banker Irineu Evangelista de Souza requested permission to build a railway connecting the Port of Maua in the Bay of Guanabara to Raiz da Serra This railway became effectively the first ever Brazilian railway being inaugurated on 30 April 1854 with only 14 5 km of track and 1 676m 5 6 gauge Irineu s company Imperial Companhia de Navegacao a Vapor Estrada de Ferro Petropolis Imperial Steam Navigation Company Petropolis Railroad realized the first port railway operation in Brazil transporting cargo from the ship Praca XV to Raiz da Serra The Estrada de Ferro Maua had little value besides its political and symbolic values however Maua directly and indirectly participated in the building of nine other railways in Brazil The first section of the Recife and Sao Francisco Railway Company which had 31 km between Cinco Pontas in Recife and the vila do Cabo opened to regular traffic on 8 February 1858 20 This was the second ever railway in Brazil being managed by the first British company that settled in Brazil The planned construction was only finished in 1862 due to delays caused by a variety of problems The first stretch of the Companhia Estrada de Ferro D Pedro II Dom Pedro II Railroad Company was opened on 29 March 1858 with the 47 21 km connection between the Estacao da Corte and Queimados in Rio de Janeiro Later with the proclamation of the republic this railway was renamed the Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil Central Brazil Railroad which was one of the main axis of connection between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in 1877 when the Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II connected to the Estrada de Ferro Sao Paulo nbsp Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II 1863 nbsp Recife was the first city in the world to operate steam locomotives specially designed to run in the roads the so called maxambomba was inaugurated in 1867In 1867 Sao Paulo Railway Ltd was founded the first railway built in the state of Sao Paulo connecting the Port of Santos with the coffee farms nbsp Station in Cruzeiro SP part of the Estrada de Ferro Minas e Rio 1885 nbsp Inauguration of the bridge over the Rio Paraiba in 1888 In late 1889 when the republic was proclaimed there were 9 583 km of active railways in Brazil which served 14 of the 20 provinces The government of the republic decided to start a new plan to build railways across Brazil but few new railways were actually built because of the government financial crisis Expansion edit nbsp Photo of the Estacao da Luz in the 1900s by Guilherme GaenslyIn 1907 the process of leasing out the Brazilian rail network started with a statement from then president Campos Sales Our long experience has shown that there s no advantage in keeping the railways under national management Giving them to the private initiative and stimulating their development not only relieves the national treasure but brings more utility for both commerce and industry During the years of the Old Republic there was significant expansion of the rail network reaching 29 000 km of rails versus the 9 538 km that existed during the imperial period The biggest expansion occurred in the state of Sao Paulo where at its peak there were 18 railways the biggest being the E F Sorocabana with 2074 km Mogiana with 1954 km the E F Noroeste do Brasil with 1539 km and the Cia Paulista de Estradas de Ferro with 1536 km and the Sao Paulo railway which held the connection with the port of Santos Together they helped the growth of agriculture and industry in the state Besides the railways in Sao Paulo other significant railways were founded in this age like the Estrada de Ferro Vitoria a Minas in 1903 and the Madeira Mamore railway in 1912Electric locomotives planned since 1922 were introduced in the 1930s to substitute steam locomotives in some stretches of track In 1938 diesel electric locomotives started operating in Brazil and continue to be the main locomotives in use to this day Starting with the first government of Getulio Vargas the development of highways was prioritized putting others ways which until then had played key roles in national planning in the background At this time the nationalization of the railways also started mainly the ones controlled by overseas companies However the lack of planning and investment in the interwar period made railways fall into disrepair and few new tracks were laid Nationalization era edit In the 50s the government request a study into the state of the railways in Brazil which as of 1956 represented 14 of the debt country wide On 30 September 1957 the Rede Ferroviaria Federal S A RFFSA was created uniting 22 railways Its objective was to standardize the railways reduce the debts and modernize the network In 1971 the government of the state of Sao Paulo founded the other great state owned railway the FEPASA uniting five railways already owned by the state In the start it had almost 5000 km of track covering almost all of the state of Sao Paulo With the objective to reduce the debt of the railways the used track was cut down to 32 163 km in 1964 and in the following years many branch lines which were considered uneconomical were closed down With the economical and political crisis that were happening in Brazil in the 70s the RFFSA lost most of its budget During the 80s a lot of the network fell into permanent disrepair and the railways which were the most efficient method of transport lost much of its market share In the end of the 80s the RFFSA s budget was only 19 of what it was in the end of the 70s Privatization era edit On 10 March 1992 the RFFSA entered Collor s de nationalization program Due to the opening up of the economy Brazil entering international markets and the need for better alternatives for cargo transport the RFFSA was sold off to private companies in 1996 with FEPASA following up in 1997 With the extinction of the RFFSA most passenger lines were also extinct with only the Trem de Prata which connect Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo surviving for one more year being extinct 1998 Historic Tramways edit Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and had a hundred tram systems almost as many as all the other Latin American countries combined It had one of the world s first tramways an 1859 system in Rio de Janeiro pre dates street railway experiments in all European countries except France Trams still operate in Rio today over 150 years later Brazil has one of the first steam powered street railways and had the world s first steam locomotive designed specifically to work on the street It had one of the world s first electric trams Rio de Janeiro had electric streetcars before London Paris Rome Madrid Lisbon and any other city in Latin America Niteroi Brazil may have been the first place where the trams were successfully fed by storage batteries Brazil had the largest collection of American streetcars built outside the United States and had the world s largest foreign owned street railway empire Five trams were still operating in 1989 the Santa Teresa and Corcovado lines in Rio de Janeiro the Campos do Jordao line near Sao Paulo the Itatinga line near Bertioga and the tourist tram in Campinas A sixth line the Tirirical tram near Sao Luis ceased operation in 1983 but may be reactivated 21 Currently there are vintage tramways operating in Campinas Heritage Tram 22 Campos do Jordao Interurban Tramway 23 Itatinga Non public Tramway 24 Rio de Janeiro Santa Teresa Tram 25 Santos Santos tramways Heritage Tramway 26 Belem Heritage Tramway 27 Historical Railway companies edit Pre 1957 companies this list is incompleteEstrada de Ferro Central do Brasil nationalised 1957 Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas a part of this railway still operates as a heritage railway Estrada de Ferro Recife ao Sao Francisco pt Estrada de Ferro Rio d Ouro pt Estrada de Ferro Santos Jundiai nationalised 1957 1 600 mm 5 ft 3 in gauge Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana pt Sao Paulo Railway nationalised 1946 renamed Estrada de Ferro Santos Jundiai 1948State ownership edit Estrada de Ferro Central de Pernambuco RFFSA Rede Ferroviaria Federal Sociedade Anonima Created in 1957 and dissolved between 1999 and 2007 Locomotives edit nbsp GE U20C NOVOESTE 2625 nbsp GE U5B NOVOESTE 2061 Luiz F M Barone nbsp GE U5B FCA Ferrovia Centro Atlantica 2039 nbsp GE C30 7 9220 of America Latina Logistica nbsp EMD DDM45 from Estrada de Ferro Vitoria a Minas of VALE nbsp FEPASA Little Joe electric locomotiveSee also editPresent day Brazilian railway companies Transport in Brazil nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rail transport in Brazil References edit a b Balanco do Setor Metroferroviario 2021 2022 PDF ANPTrilhos Retrieved 5 October 2023 Extensao da Malha Ferroviaria 2015 ANTT a b Pelissari Felipe Cesar Sabino Biedacha Marina Myszak Noronha Marcos Aurelio Marques Bisconsini Danilo Rinaldi 30 June 2023 Bitolas ferroviarias no Brasil uma analise de integracao da malha nacional Observatorio de la Economia Latinoamericana 21 6 5711 5732 doi 10 55905 oelv21n6 132 ISSN 1696 8352 S2CID 259725182 Secretaria Nacional de Transportes Terrestres 2022 Produto 1 A 1 Proposicao de Diretrizes para a Formulacao de Proposta de PDTFP e de Planejamento do Transporte Ferroviario de Passageiros PDF 249 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Cite journal requires journal help disse Paulo Cesar de Oliveira 16 December 2021 Conheca o Tunelao o maior tunel do Brasil Ferrovia Vez e Voz in Brazilian Portuguese Retrieved 5 October 2023 Morrison Allen Light Rail in Brazil Two Sad Stories Retrieved 3 July 2009 Goiania Brazil eyes light rail transit system Retrieved 3 July 2009 Curitiba Brazil now plans a Light Metro to replace BRT in a major corridor Retrieved 3 July 2009 Metro do Cariri inicia obras das nove estacoes de passageiros In Portugues Archived from the original on 7 July 2009 Retrieved 3 July 2009 Smith Kevin World Cup rail projects caught offside Retrieved 14 August 2016 Novais Andrea 1 March 2013 Railway infrastructure in Brazil The Brazil Business Retrieved 14 August 2016 Obras de Expansao e Modernizacao Canal de Relacionamento Metro Sao Paulo www metro sp gov br Retrieved 14 August 2016 Trens Regionais www stm sp gov br Archived from the original on 15 September 2016 Retrieved 31 August 2016 Venezuela Argentina begin construction of railway linking their capitals China Daily Xinhua News Agency 21 August 2008 Archived from the original on 4 March 2009 Retrieved 21 August 2008 Railway Gazette International April 2009 page 62 Ferrograo railway concession to be tendered in 2021 Railway Gazette 28 May 2020 International Railway Journal July 2005 by Theodor A Gevert Re gauging offers a cost effective fleet upgrade Borba Jose Luiz 2007 Material de Tracao Traction Material Postgraduate degree in Railway Engineering thesis in Portuguese Belo Horizonte PUC Minas Gerais p 6 a b Borba 2007 p 6 Borba 2007 p 7 The tramways of Brazil Retrieved 26 June 2008 The Tramways of Campinas Retrieved 26 June 2008 The Tramways of Jordao Retrieved 26 June 2008 The Tramways of Itatinga Retrieved 26 June 2008 The Tramways of Rio de Janeiro Retrieved 26 June 2008 Santos The Tramways of Santos Retrieved 26 June 2008 The Tramways of Belem Retrieved 26 June 2008 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rail transport in Brazil amp oldid 1183699231 History, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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