Nova Ferroeste presents feasibility studies for 1285 km of new rail track

Technical teams involved in the implementation of Nova Ferroeste – a railway route that will connect Maracaju, in Mato Grosso do Sul, to the Port of Paranaguá – met last week in Paraná to monitor and align the issues involved in the project. The companies responsible for preparing the Technical, Economic, Environmental, and Legal Feasibility Studies (EVTEA-J) and the Environmental Impact Study, as well as the Environmental Impact Report (EIA / RIMA), presented their analyses to the governments of Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul.

The forecast is to present the project for auction later this year on the Stock Exchange (B3) after the completion of EVTEA-J, scheduled to be completed in September, and the EIA-RIMA, which should be delivered in November. According to the previous study, 1,285 kilometers of tracks will be laid, including a railway branch between Foz do Iguaçu and Cascavel, and nine cargo terminals between the two states.

“Nova Ferroeste will provide security in the future for the flow of agricultural production from Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul, which practically doubles in size every ten years,” said the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior. “It is also a great time for Brazil to invest in railways. The road transport has already demonstrated that it cannot handle all the production in the field and in other sectors on its own.”

For the secretary of the state of Mato Grosso, Jaime Verruck, the agribusiness of his state will have a logistical gain, facilitating the flow through the Port of Paranaguá. The railroad will also be strategic for handling agricultural production in Paraguay, which will have access to two cargo terminals, in Foz do Iguaçu and Guaíra.

“The railroad’s area of ​​influence in the southern region of Mato Grosso do Sul concentrates 70% of the state’s agricultural production. The branch will also absorb a greater flow in the future because we have a great capacity to expand the planted area,” said Verruck. “Nova Ferroeste is a strategic logistical project not only for the two states but for Brazil and neighboring countries, which will increase the competitiveness and socio-environmental development of the impacted regions”.

Nova Ferroeste – The Nova Ferroeste project is of strategic importance for the country and was qualified as a priority in the federal government’s Investment Partnership Program (PPI). Inclusion guarantees speed in connecting with the intervening entities that end up involved in the licensing processes, such as IBAMA, FUNAI, ICMBio, and INCRA.

The studies take into account all these variants and are being designed to have the least possible impact on indigenous communities, quilombolos, settlements, and preservation units. Another concern is with urban areas, avoiding stretches that cross cities. In Curitiba, for example, the tracks will all be diverted to avoid trains passing through intersections that can cause accidents.

The railway takes advantage of the current route of Ferroeste, between Cascavel and Guarapuava, and modernizes the descent of the Serra do Mar, whose stretch currently used was built in the 19th century. The forecast is to move up to 40 million tons per year in the so-called Western Export Corridor, which goes to the port, in addition to 10.6 million tons per year at the Maracaju terminal and 10 million tons in Cascavel.

Trucks, which today represent up to 80% of cargo transportation, will be replaced by trains which are safer, more efficient, more economical, and more environmentally friendly”, explained Luiz Henrique Fagundes, coordinator of the Paraná State Railway Plan.

The cargo terminals are scheduled to be installed in Maracaju and Amambaí, in Mato Grosso do Sul and, in Paraná, in Guaíra, Cascavel, Foz do Iguaçu, Guarapuava, Balsa Nova, Curitiba and in the Port of Paranaguá. They are in high traffic zone areas and integrated with other logistic modes, mainly the highways.

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