Railway proposals under Brazil’s new private ownership program total 89 with BRL 258bn to be invested

One year after the creation of Brazil’s Pro Trilhos program, under which firms may build and operate short-distance freight rails via government-issued rights-of-way, the number of proposals reached 89, presented by 39 different proponents, involving potential investments of 258bn reais (US$47.8bn) and 22,442km.

Several proposals provide for the extension of existing railroads. The prognosis is that, in 30 years, the number of authorized railways will increase the participation of railroads in the country’s cargo transport above the 40% estimated in the last edition of the National Logistics Plan (NLP). “We are addressing, ever more quickly, historical demands with the Pro Trilhos program. We have different proposals in 19 units of the Federation, from North to South and from East to West in Brazil,” said the Minister of Infrastructure, Marcelo Sampaio.

Eighty-one of the total request were submitted to the Ministry of Infrastructure while Provisional Measure 1,065/2021 was in effect. When Law 14.273/2022 was approved, the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) took this responsibility upon itself and immediately received another eight requests. In September, the two most recent requests, made by VLI, arrived. They refer to the creation of another 200 kilometers of rail tracks in the state of Bahia, connecting Correntina to Arrojolândia and Barreiras to Luís Eduardo Magalhães.

VLI plans to invest BRL 5 billion to develop new rail stretches, which will connect to the Fiol railroad that crosses Brazil from west to east. The applicant’s goal is to provide an efficient flow of cargo from the region through the future port of Ilhéus, provided for in Fiol’s project.

Natura of applicants 

“Striking, but not surprising, is the range of applicants. Naturally, companies that operate in the rail segment compose the list, but they are not the only ones interested. We received proposals from players in port operations, logistics, pulp, ores, and grain. They all wish to undertake railroads to ensure the transport of their products across the country and towards the ports from where they will gain the foreign market,” said Sampaio.

These and 60 other proposals are still under consideration by the personnel of the National Land Transport Agency and the Ministry of Infrastructure. Since February, when the provisional measure that kickstarted the beginning of the railway authorizations expired, the projects are filed with the municipality, which carries out the initial analyzes in light of Law 14.273/2022, the Pro Trilhos Program.

At the conclusion of the procedure, MInfra issues a rights-of-way authorization. The authorized applicant is responsible for leading the negotiations to launch the project and taking on all associated risks. Therefore, it is the private sector’s responsibility, not the government’s, to develop engineering and socio-environmental feasibility projects, seek funding, define implementation stages, as well as obtain licenses from the appropriate bodies.

Sharing is caring!