What are the railroad companies in Brazil?

Since the beginning of railroad construction, the railroad system has been one of the main means of transport for supplying ports and cities throughout Brazilian states. The railroad lines could still be longer, but unfortunately, the railroads went through difficult problems, especially at the end of the last century, in which companies started to invest more in the road sector and left many railroad lines, including tracks and trains, were abandoned. Currently, the business sector, in partnership with the Federal Government, has returned to invest heavily in the railroad sector, in the creation of new lines and, also, in the revitalization of railroads in disuse. The importance of the railroad sector to the country is starting to grow expansively, mainly due to investments by railroad companies. 

Railroad companies are nothing more than the companies that hold the concession of sections of railroad lines. Some even have the concession for the entire length of the road. These concessions occur in some ways, the main one being through auctions. Currently, there are 15 railroads in the country that are managed by several railroad companies. 

The consortium assigned to the railroad companies implies a number of factors. The companies become responsible, through a long-term contract, for the payment to the Federal Government that invested in the line. During this period in which the contract is in force, the companies have full control of the actions that must be taken, invest in materials and infrastructure for the tracks and trains, are in charge of carrying out the necessary maintenance and among other obligations. 

Next, we will talk more about the main railroad companies that hold the consortium of the most important railroads in the Brazilian railroad sector. These are the routes that pass through several cities, in different states, and mainly supply national ports. 

Railroad companies

MRS Logistics

Starting our survey of national railroad companies, we will talk about MRS Logística, which owns the main supply line in the southeastern region of the country. The company was founded in 1996, being a company that performs logistic works in several regions, although its original headquarters is in Rio de Janeiro (RJ).

Regarding the railroad directed by MRS Logística, which bears the same name as the company, it is considered the main railroad that goes to the port of Santos, in São Paulo, and the port of Itaguaí, in Rio de Janeiro, in addition to reach the center of the state of Minas Gerais.

Currently, the length of the line is about 1600 km away and the products transported in greater quantity are the ores. According to data obtained from the company and also from the National Association of Rail Transport (ANTF), about a third of all national production goes through this line. The fleet present in the MRS logistical line surpasses the mark of 18 thousand wagons, placed on trains that pass through this railroad daily.

These numbers give the dimension of the importance of this railroad company for the sector. The ports of Santos and Itaguaí were the ports that moved the most in 2019, and are among the three busiest in the months of January to March 2020. In this period, about 44% of all port movement in the country was carried out in these ports that are supplied by the MRS Logística railroad.

Vale

The mining company Vale is one of the most important companies in the Brazilian logistics market. Acting in several areas, it has a high investment in the railroad sector. Vale has an effective presence both on the freight and product transport railroads, as well as on the passenger trains, handling around 350 thousand people daily, according to ANTF data.

The railroad that bears the name of Vale is the Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas (EFVM). This railroad, as the name implies, is centered in the directions of Vitória, in Espírito Santo, and extends over a part of Minas Gerais.

Despite being controlled by one of the main companies in the sector, this railroad is not as extensive in relation to the others. EFVM is about 905 km long and covers a good route in the Vale do Rio Doce, an important valley for supplying and transporting products.

The data described in the Federal Government's Investment Partnership Program indicate that the main products handled on this railroad are iron ore, steel, coal and cellulose. 

VLI Logística

Another important railroad company in the Brazilian logistics sector is VLI Logística S / A. It is a recent company, founded only in 2010, but it already has great relevance in several sectors, mainly in the railroad sector. The railroad concessioned by this company is called Ferrovia Centro Atlântica S / A (FCA) and is the largest railroad in extension in the Brazilian railroad sector, with more than 7000 km in length.

The FCA encompasses a number of states, passing through a large number of cities in Brazil. States such as Minas Gerais, Goiás, Rio de Janeiro, Sergipe, Espírito Santo, Bahia and São Paulo are supplied by this immense railroad line. 

According to ANTF, VLI logistics' plan is to further expand the existing investments in its line. The railroad company has an injection plan of R $ 9 billion for the improvement and expansion of the railroad line, investment in the tracks and trains that circulate on the railroad. 

Rumo

The company Rumo was founded in 2008, and since 2015 has started to invest heavily in shares in the railroad sector. Since then, it has acquired existing line concessions, and has become the company with the largest number of lines and extension of railroads in Brazil, becoming the main logistics company in the industry. 

The lines run by the company have approximately 14 thousand km of railroad network, passing through all the states of the south and central-west regions, in addition to São Paulo and Minas Gerais. As you can see on the map below, the company controls a large number of roads, such as Malha Norte, Malha Sul, Malha Paulista and the Malha Central. The blue color in a straight line represents the railroads that the route has. The dotted lines include the company's ongoing projects. You can also see the other companies and railroad lines in the country on the map. 

Conclusion

The variety of Brazilian railroads supplied by investments by railroad companies has grown considerably in recent years. Throughout the article, we learned about the main companies in the railroad sector, and to learn more about the new investments that are being made, just access the link on our website. .

Complementary sources:

https://www.mrs.com.br/empresa/ferrovia-frota/

https://webportos.labtrans.ufsc.br/Brasil/Movimentacao

https://www.suapesquisa.com/economia/principais_ferrovias_brasil.htm+

http://www.vli-logistica.com.br/conheca-a-vli/ferrovias/ferrovia-centro-atlantica-fca/