Find out which are the main railroads in Santa Catarina
As in much of Brazil, the railroad sector plays a very important role for the state of Santa Catarina, located in the southern region of the country. But do you know which are the main railroads in Santa Catarina? What do they carry? What is their capacity?
Well, the main role of freight railroads around the world is the transport of goods that are important to the country's economy. As Brazil is a country segmented into states, the railroads operating in each state have the role of helping the economic movement from where they are located.
In Santa Catarina, the products transported, which drive the state's economy, are quite varied and divided between the two main railroads in Santa Catarina.
Despite being one of the smallest states in the country, with only 95,730,684 km² in length, Santa Catarina is one of the main producers of several important commodities for the national economy, such as: pork, apple, onion, tobacco, heart of palm, poultry, rice, milk, among others.
However, a large part of these products is moved by highways, spreading across the state and the rest of the country. The railroads are responsible for the internal and external movement of the following products: agricultural, fuel, construction, steel, electronics, automotive, chemicals, coal, ceramic products, among others.
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Historical context
Before continuing to highlight the main railroads in Santa Catarina today, it is important to take a historical approach, understanding how the current railroad network was composed, which railroads already existed in this region, etc.
Well, the railroad sector in Santa Catarina began to be shaped in the 19th century, in the mid-1880s. The first railroad in the state was Ferro Dona Tereza Cristina (EFDTC), built exactly this year and with the objective of transporting coal to the ports of Laguna and Imbituba.
Despite having gone through changes and concessions over time, the main stretch of the railroad is still active today, being one of the main railroads in Santa Catarina.
After the inauguration of the first railroad in the state, several other railroads began to appear over the years in the state or passing through the region, such as the Santa Catarina Railroad (EFSC) and the São Paulo/Rio Grande Railroad (EFSPRG), which were administered by the Brazilian government.
However, while the São Paulo/Rio Grande Railroad has little operation today, the Santa Catarina Railroad was deactivated in the last century.
The existing railroads in the state of Santa Catarina until the 1960s were “dominated” by the state company Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA), which started to manage the entire Brazilian railroad sector. With the privatization plan, in the 90's, the railroads returned to the control of the private sector, remaining until today.
Tereza Cristina railroad
Well, the Tereza Cristina Railroad is certainly one of the main railroads in Santa Catarina. With a name very close to the original, this railroad continues to have the only railroad section that operates only in the state of Santa Catarina.
Named like this since 1997, when the logistics company Ferrovia Tereza Cristina S/A (FTC) took over the shares of this railroad line, the railroad has a fundamental role in the transport of coal from Lauro Muller to the port of Imbituba and ceramic products from the port for export.
The railroad line auction was granted a year earlier, in 1996, and the company won a bid of R$18,510,000.00 for a period of 30 years.
Currently, the railroad has a total length of 164 km, which for the region is quite important. In total there are 10 locomotives operating on the railroad with more than 440 wagons.
The railroad network of Ferrovia Tereza Cristina operates in an important coal-producing region for the state's economy, and passes through the municipalities of Imbituba, Laguna, Capivari de Baixo, Tubarão, Sangão, Jaguaruna, Içara, Criciúma, Siderópolis, Morro da Fumaça, Urussanga and Forquilhinha.
RUMO
The RUMO company is the largest railroad movement operator in the country. Unlike the Tereza Cristina Railroad, the RUMO railroad covers different states, especially in the South, Midwest, North and Southeast.
Previously, the line that is now owned by RUMO was called Ferrovia América Latina Logística (ALL), but the company was absorbed by the current owner of the concession of this extensive railroad network, being the largest railroad in the country and having a stretch that completes the main railroads of Santa Catarina.
With 12,900 km of railroad network in Brazil, RUMO operates in the states of Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, Paraná, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Goiás, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Tocantins. This railroad line alone represents more than 40% of the entire railroad length in the country.
Each stretch of this railroad line is divided into parts. Therefore, the composition is formed as follows: Malha Sul, Malha Norte, Malha Oeste, Malha Central and Malha Paulista. In total, there are 966 locomotives, 28,000 wagons and 11,700 direct and indirect employees.
In Santa Catarina, it has 70,000 m2 of storage area and 30,000 m2 of bonded areas.
As this is a line that passes through different states, with the main objective of supplying these municipalities, but also landing at the Port of Santos, the country's main port, for export, Santa Catarina is part of the route, helping to transport commodities important, such as agricultural commodities and fertilizers, fuels, among others that were already mentioned at the beginning of the article.
Future of Santa Catarina's main railroads
As we have seen, despite being a state with a small territorial extension, the incentive and investment in railroads is fundamental for the production capacity. In this sense, the government of the state of Santa Catarina, the federal government and the private sector have planned railroad works that cover the state, as well as the RUMO railroad.
There are two main highlights that are underway: Leste-Oeste and Litorânea.
The East-West railroad is a railroad line that has been under discussion for some time, but it encountered obstacles along the way. From 2013 to 2016, for example, much was discussed about the feasibility of building the road, but without much success.
In recent years, especially 2019 and 2020, discussions about the construction of the railroad have resurfaced. The stretch, which was planned to go from Chapecó to Itajaí, with a capacity of 610 km, has some important objectives in its projection, such as:
- Generate income for the state of Santa Catarina;
- Decrease in highway maintenance costs;
- Preservation of the environment;
- Decrease in the number of accidents and cargo theft;
- Gain in transport and logistics costs;
- Job creation;
- Scale the transport matrices;
- Others.
Currently, the government of the state of Santa Catarina and federations of Santa Catarina, such as the Fiesc (Federation of Industries of SC), continue trying to identify the feasibility of building the railroad, believing that the route would add a lot to the movement of cargo in the state and in the integration with other Brazilian states.
The Litorânea Railroad is also a project that aims to improve cargo transport in the state of Santa Catarina. There are two main stretches that were designed: EF-485 - Porto União to São Francisco do Sul and EF-451 - São Francisco do Sul (SC) to Imbituba (SC).
One of the main objectives of the construction of this railroad would be to connect the Norte Sul Railroad to the ports of Santa Catarina and to transport agricultural production for export.
The work also undergoes study and planning phases and also continues as a project to be finalized, needing to be approved by the main government infrastructure instances in the country, in addition to having to undergo environmental assessments, among others.
Conclusion: main railroads in Santa Catarina
As we have seen, the state of Santa Catarina is an important state for the country's economy. The ports of Itajaí and São Francisco do Sul, for example, are the busiest in the country. In this sense, the implementation of railroads is an important way to improve the flow of goods in the country. Currently, only two railroad lines actually operate in the state, being the two main railroads in Santa Catarina
Searchs:
http://mobilizacao.fecam.org.br/arquivos/obj1/Ferrovia_Litoranea_Sul-Projeto.pdf
http://www.prosul.com/portfolio/ferrovia-litoranea/
https://folhadooeste.com.br/cidades/fiesc-mostra-viabilidade-de-ferrovias-em-sc-1.2292257
http://mobilizacao.fecam.org.br/arquivos/obj1/Ferrovia_Litoranea_Sul-Projeto.pdf
