Marco Legal is “rebirth of the railways in Brazil”, says project rapporteur

The federal government authorized, this Thursday (9), the construction of nine railroads by the private sector — as part of the Pro Trilhos program, created based on the Legal Framework for Railroads.

The rapporteur of the Law Project (PL) of Marco das Ferrovias, Zé Vitor (PL-MG), spoke in an interview to CNN that the situation is positive.

“Overall, this Legal Framework for Railways creates a favorable environment. We consider the rebirth of railroads in Brazil. What began in the 19th century with the Barão de Mauá, we are going to take it much further”, he said.

The project foresees 3,500 kilometers of railway network in the country. The investment continues at around R$ 50 billion and should pass through 10 states, including São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Paraná and others.

“We can take the nearly 30,000 kilometers [existentes hoje] to much larger numbers, expanding another 12, 14 or 15 thousand kilometers of railway in the country.”

rail transport

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure, the idea is to reduce underutilization of the Brazilian rail network.

Data from the folder show that there are only 25% of the roads in full operation, and 46% have low traffic. Already 29% continue without commercial operation.

The rapporteur points out that the Legal Framework for Railroads does not delimit that only the authorizations will be in force, on the contrary, it allows the government to grant authorizations to finish projects — in this case, the lines that are idle.

“It is a mix of public and private investment, which demonstrated how efficient this method is in generating railroads, jobs and expanding transport in Brazil.”

The text already passed the Senate, should be voted on in the Chamber of Deputies next Monday. If approved, it will go to presidential sanction.