Fewer Brazilian companies have submitted construction requests for their own railways at a time when the government is speeding up process approvals in the pipeline.
Under the previous legislation, the number of applications had increased, although a slowdown was also anticipated.
“The first requests were related to large railway projects, of more than 100km. The trend now is slowing down and then projects with much smaller extensions, projects to install a few kilometers of railways that connect production units of companies with an existing railway network,” land transport secretary Marcello da Costa told BNamericas.
Last year, a presidential decree authorized companies to build and operate short-distance freight railways by ceding publicly owned rights of way. Previously, they had to compete in bidding processes that could take years.
In February, no new applications were submitted. Currently, 79 applications are being processed with associated investments of 241bn reais (US$47bn) and 20,721km of rail, according to the infrastructure ministry.
In the meantime, new approvals are being delivered.
So far, the government has authorized 15 companies from various sectors to build 27 railway lines throughout the country. These add up to 9,925km and investments of 133,000 million reais. By comparison, earlier this month the government authorized 13 companies to build 22 railways with a combined length of 6,880km.
“The signed contracts incorporate new operators into rail transport logistics after federal authorization. Twelve of the fifteen companies with authorized projects are new to the sector: they are companies originally linked to terminals for private use (TUP) in Brazilian ports or cargo originators. The exceptions are Ferroeste, Rumo and VLI, veterans of rail transport such as the already established rail concessionaires,” the Infrastructure Ministry said in a press release.
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