SPA signs contract with transferee to take over Port of Santos’ train track

The Santos Port Authority (SPA), the state-owned company responsible for managing the Port of Santos, and the companies Ferrovia Centro Atlântica S/A (VLI), MRS Logística S/A, and Rumo S.A., signed on December 16, the contract that transfers the management of the port’s internal railroad (FIPS) for the next 35 years.

“The recently-signed contract guarantees that the cargo transported by rail to the Port of Santos, which should double in volume within 5 to 10 years, will be done so efficiently,” says the president of SPA, Fernando Biral.

The transferee, formed by the three biggest railway operators in the country, will be responsible for managing, preserving, and expanding the railway infrastructure within the Port of Santos. The group will invest around BRL 891 million in up to five years to develop the railway capacity of the port complex, which is close to saturation.

The current capacity is 50 million tonnes per year, 94% totally put to use, justifying its immediate expansion.

These works should start immediately after the approval of the executive projects, the main interventions being:

• New railway yard between the Channel 4 region and Ponta da Praia, equipped with three railway tracks connected to pulp terminals;
• Overpass cuts to eliminate crossings around channel 4 – Marinha;
• Pedestrian walkways between channel four and Ponta da Praia;
• Balloon loop, two viaducts, and a pedestrian walkway in the Outeirinhos region;
• New road for the 2nd entrance on the right bank of the Port of Santos, in Saboó.

Fips will be managed by an association that will work cooperatively based on principles of active self-regulation, sharing costs, and with no profit. Throughout the contractual term, the transferee companies will carry out, once every two years, public calls to attract new members.

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