Railroads, Rail network

Railroads in Brazil: Meet the main ones in 2020

The history of railroads in Brazil began in the mid-19th century, when we were still a colony in Portugal. Over the years and the development of technologies related to the implementation of railroad lines, this modal had its peak in Brazilian soil between the years 1870 and 1930, thanks to the great expansion of coffee production that needed drainage.

However, after this period and with the governments of Presidents Getúlio Vargas and Juscelino Kubistchek, the railroads ended up being left out, not having as much development as in other countries. The United States, for example, currently has more than 293,564 kilometers of railroads. Much of this great growth is due to the radical deregulation of activity in the country in the 1980s.

For several experts, Brazil can also learn lessons from this process in the USA and also increase its rail network. In any case, our country already has more than 30 thousand kilometers of railroads and some of them are extremely important within the Brazilian cargo flow system. 

So, read on and get to know the main railroads in Brazil and, moreover, also learn more about the current scenario of investments and results in the sector. Good reading!

Current scenario of railroads in Brazil 

Current scenario of railroads in Brazil

In the last two decades, when there was a strong private investment in the development of the country's railroads, Brazilian rail transport showed a great evolution in its numbers. To give you an idea, compared to 1997, when the line concessions started to operate, the volume transported increased 125%, jumping from 253 million tons in the 1990s to 569 million tons in 2018.

In addition, the sector also saw its efficiency during this period, which can be noted by the increase in railroad production, which is measured by the index that indicates the number of tons of cargo handled per kilometer, the so-called TKU (Tons per kilometer) useful). In 2018, that number reached 407 billion RTK, an increase of 8.5% compared to 2017 and 125% compared to the beginning of the concessions. 

Railroad investments in Brazil

With the concessions of the railroads in Brazil, massive investments came. Since 1997, more than R $ 107 billion have been invested, updating the values based on the IPCA of 2018. In large part, this amount was mainly used for the improvement and recovery of the network, acquisition and development of new technologies and qualification operations.

In addition, there was also a large investment in the purchase and renovation of rolling stock. In this case, the railroad network now has 3,515 locomotives in 2018, when in 1997 it had 1,154. Regarding the wagons, in the same period, the growth was 159%, going from 43,816 to 113,680

Main railroads in Brazil 

We made a relationship with railroad lines that are or will be more important for the flow of Brazilian production. Therefore, we are considering railroads already completed and those that are still under construction, but which will play an important role. See below: 

Nova Transnordestina Railroad

Nova Transnordestina Railroad

The railroad still under development, the Nova Transnordestina, when completed, will make the connection between the port of Pecém (Ceará) and the port of Suape (Pernambuco), passing through the cerrado of the state of Piauí. Considering its entire length, the railroad line will have 1,728 km of tracks crossing the northeast of Brazil. 

The railroad project was developed to be implemented in mixed gauge, allowing the integration of the high capacity of the wide gauge to occur and the connection with the other regional railroads with the metric gauge. Nova Transnordestina seeks to increase the competitiveness of agricultural and mineral production in the Northeast region, using efficient logistics. 

North-South Railroad

FERROVIA NORTE SUL

Designed to be one of the most important railroads in Brazil, the EF-151, a North-South Railroad, is a longitudinal wide-gauge railroad. It still has only 1,200 km of finished section of a total of 4,155 km that will be built linking the state of Pará to the South, more precisely Rio Grande do Sul. 

Therefore, when it is completely completed, the railroad will cut through the states of Pará, Maranhão, Tocantins, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, connecting the ends of the country. Your project will make it possible to connect the main producing regions of the country with the ports in a more simplified way. 

Vitória-Minas Railroad

Vitória-Minas Railroad

Vitória-Minas Railroad that connects the great Vitória in Espírito Santo to the city of Belo Horizonte, in Minas Gerais, the Vitória a Minas railroad was born at the end of the 19th century, having at the time, the objective of carrying passengers and the flow of coffee production from Vale do Rio Doce and Espírito Santo. 

The line has also been used to transport iron ore mined in the cities of Minas Gerais to the port complexes in Espírito Santo. With great use, cities began to emerge around the railroad, such as the municipality of Coronel Fabriciano, for example.   

Pantanal Railroad

Pantanal Railroad

Under construction in a region with large agricultural production, the Pantanal railroad will connect the municipality of Panorama, in the interior of São Paulo, to Porto Murtinho (MS), on the banks of the Paraguay River. When the works are finished, the line will be 734 km long.

The main cargoes transported by this railroad structure will be, notably, soy, corn and sugar.   

Carajás Railroad

ferrovias no brasil Estrada de Ferro Carajás

Largest railroad for passenger transport in activity in Brazil, the Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EF-315) connects the municipalities of São Luís in Maranhão and Parauapebas in Pará. Even with the problems faced in long distance travel, the system can carry around 1500 users a day. 

In addition, the EF-315 tracks also carry mineral loads extracted from the mines of Serra dos Carajás, which are subsequently taken to the ports of São Marcos Bay in Maranhão for export. Over 120 million tons of cargo are transported per year.  

Other important railroads in Brazil

The following railroads also deserve mention:

North and South Rumo networks

The north and south networks of Rumo, on their way, leave Rondonópolis, MT, towards the port of Santos, also connecting a commodity producing pole to a cargo distribution point, both for the foreign market and for the national consumption in other locations.

FIOL 

Brazilian transversal railroad under construction, FIOL (West-East Integration railroad), when completed, will integrate the state of Mato Grosso and Bahia, ending in the city of Ilhéus, south coast of the northeastern state. Thus, the forecast is that the railroad built in broad gauge 1,527 kilometers long

MRS

Connecting the 3 states that concentrate almost half of the country's GDP, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, MRS, the Southeast Regional Network, transports almost 20% of everything that is exported in Brazil, being extremely strategic and important for this reason. question. 

Conclusion

As you can see throughout the article, the use of railroads in Brazil has increased in recent years, making this modal even more important for the flow of Brazilian production, whether for the national or international market. Interested in the subject? So, click here and learn more about the railroad sector in Brazil. 
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6 comments

  1. Angela Maria de FREITAS SILVA
    3 de September de 2020 at 01:34

    Que maravilha ver a volta das ferrovias no Brasil. Agora sim o país vá crescer

  2. ernesto
    17 de November de 2020 at 12:52

    a integração do transporte é fundamental para o crescimento do pais, com a extensão do mar e rios podemos ter uma logística muito mais economia.
    outro dia vi uma reportagem de caminhoneiros, que falavam em transporte de santos a fortaleza, na minha opinião e loucura, pois com containers em navios seria bem mais em conta, nao tenho saudades de Getúlio Vargas nem Juscelino, permitiram este desastre, e os demais fecharam os olhos.

  3. José Roberto dos Santos
    23 de November de 2020 at 18:25

    Trabalhei na MRS onde aposentei e, posso afirmar que ela ainda vai crescer muito no interior, onde transporta soja, milho, açúcar, para o porto de Santos.
    Executa tambem transporte de contêineres, atravessando a grande São Paulo, indo até Jundiaí.
    De Jundiaí, faz intercâmbio com outra ferrovia, tracionando vagões vazios oriundos da descarga de Santos para
    o interior paulista.
    José Roberto

  4. Pascoalina
    3 de March de 2021 at 00:51

    Meus parabéns pelo desenvolvimento das linhas férreas no Brasil para escoamento de produtos, mas seria muito bom as de passageiros também que avançasse para todo território Brasileiro , interestaduais e intermunicipais uma abrangência bem maior , como seria tão prazeiroso as viagens em nosso querido Brasil

  5. Daniel Costa
    16 de March de 2021 at 02:26

    Seria interessante fazer uma matéria com datas. Assim teríamos uma ideia melhor do andamento dessas obras

  6. GENI ROSANGELA DE SOUZA SANTOS
    11 de May de 2021 at 14:53

    Poderiam fazer trem para passageiro, viagens como na Europa tbm, seria um sonho.

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