BRAZIL: Having introduced legislation to simplify the process of authorising the construction of new rail projects, the government has received applications for 10 schemes totalling 3 635 route-km with a total value of RS$53∙5bn.
Designating this month as ‘Railway September’, President Jair Bolsonaro launched the Pro Trilhos (For Rails) programme on September 2 at an event in the Planalto Palace in Brasilia attended by Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas. The key element is Provisional Measure 1065/21 which was signed into law by the president on August 31 after publication in the Official Gazette a day earlier.
Major legislation governing changes in the railway sector has been under discussion since a bill was presented during 2018, but this has become stalled in the Senate. Tarcísio de Freitas justified the Provisional Measure as a means of providing legal certainty for rail projects already planned or in progress in various states.
Covering new lines on greenfield sites and the reconstruction or rehabilitation of existing lines, the legal instrument is intended to cut bureaucracy and facilitate private investment. A significant change compared with earlier legislation is that projects will no longer have to undergo a competitive tendering process. The legal framework also provides for the reopening of disused routes. The initial batch of proposals includes a short connecting line in the port of Santos (Table I).
| Table I. Applications for rail projects to be assessed by Brazil’s Ministry of Infrastructure under simplified legislation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mato Grosso | Água Boa – Lucas do Rio Verde | 557 km | R$6∙4bn |
| Minas Gerais | Uberlândia – Chaveslândia | 235 km | R$2∙7bn |
| Maranhão | Estreito – Balsas | 245 km | R$2∙8bn |
| Açailândia – Alcântara | 520 km | R$6∙5bn | |
| Mato Grosso do Sul | Maracaju – Dourados | 76 km | R$2∙85bn |
| Paraná | Guarapuava – Paranaguá | 405 km | R$15∙2bn |
| Cascavel – Foz do Iguaçu | 166 km | R$6∙25bn | |
| Espírito Santo/Minas Gerais | São Mateus – Ipatinga | 420 km | R$5bn |
| Pernambuco/Piauí | Suape – Curral Novo | 717 km | R$5∙7bn |
| São Paulo | Perequê – Luiz Antônio Mesquita port integrator terminal, Santos Port | 8 km | R$100m |
Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso and Pará states are reportedly already permitting rail projects to proceed without a competitive tendering process, and this arrangement will now be extended to other states. Minas Gerais expects the changes and the implementation of a strategic railway plan to attract R$20bn worth of investment to the state.
Mato Grosso announced on September 3 that it was assessing proposals put forward by Rumo to extend the Malha Norte concession by building the long-planned line from Rondónopolis to the state capital of Cuiabá and then north to Nova Mutum and Lucas do Rio Verde at a cost of R$12bn.
On September 3 President Bolsonaro and Tarcísio de Freitas visited Tanhaçu in Bahia to sign the 35-year sub-concession contract under which Bahia Mineraçao will build and operate the 537 km first phase of the Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste project between Ilhéus and Caetité.
Using an initial fleet of 16 locomotives and 1 400 wagons, Bamin expects FIOL to carry 18 million tonnes of freight, mainly iron ore, a year after the line is completed in 2025 or 2026. Traffic is expected to rise to more than 50 million tonnes a year within 10 years, requiring additional investment in motive power and wagons.
A subsidiary of Luxembourg headquartered Eurasian Resources Group, Bamin was the sole bidder in the auction held held by National Land Transportation Agency ANTT in April. It has undertaken to invest $3∙3bn in FIOL, of which RS1∙6bn will be spent on finishing construction work that is around 80% complete. The project is related to construction of the Porto Sul deep-water port in the Aritágua district of Ilhéus which would be served by a 12∙6 km branch from the new railway.
ANTT and the federal government are now engaged in progressing the second and third phases of FIOL, from Caetité to Barreiras and Barreiras to Figueirópolis respectively.
The Ministry of Infrastructure confirmed on September 8 that the concession contract for Guarulhos Airport owned by GRU Airport would be amended to allow the concessionaire to invest R$272m in a 2∙7 km Aeromovel peoplemover to provide a direct connection from the passenger terminals to the Line 13 airport station of the São Paulo metro.
