Brazil
The first railway in Brazil opened in 1854 between Praia da Estrela
and Fragoso, a distance of 14.5km. It was built to the unique gauge of
1680mm. Subsequent railway construction used a variety of gauges: metre,
1600mm, and a small amount of 1440mm (slightly wider than standard
gauge).
The southern part of the country is well provided with railways,
and the metre gauge network extends north to connect most of the
Atlantic coast states as far as São Luis. North of this there is just
one isolated line, some 200km in length, in Amapa state. Few lines
penetrate into the interior; the exceptions being the 900km, 1600mm
gauge Carajas railway in Maranhão state and, of course, the line
built in the 1960s to connect the then new capital of Brasilia with the
coast.
Following privatisation of the national network, a number of
companies operate the railways. The network is predominantly freight
only; passenger services operate only in urban areas and on a few
other isolated lines. There are international connections (for freight
only) with Bolivia at Corumba, and with Uruguay at Rivera. Both these
connections may be out of use at the present time, but the line to the
border with Bolivia at least is the subject of major renovation.
Several major cities have metro systems, operating or under
construction. Tram systems, once popular, have mostly disappeared -
the few exceptions are noted in the list below.
Main line passenger and freight railways
- Estrada de Ferro do Amapá isolated line in the north of the
country, from Serra do Navio to Porto Santana on the Atlantic coast
(194km). The only standard (1440mm) gauge line in Brazil. It is believed
that passenger services still operate, but information is hard to obtain
(No website located at present)
- Companhia Vale do Rio Doce mining consortium which
also owns three major railway networks - Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas
(EFVM), Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica (FCA) and Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC)
- totalling over 8500km. Passenger services operate only on the EFVM, on
a metre gauge route between Vitória and Belo Horizonte (664km) with a
branch from Drumond to Itabira (35km) Timetable and ticket
information (in Portuguese) are included on the CVRD site, but only in
Microsoft Excel format. If you do not have Microsoft Office or Open Office (Recommended), you will need
Microsoft Excel Viewer
(Free download for Windows users)
Freight only railways
- América
Latina Logística logistics company with railways in Argentina and
Brazil (the former Ferrovia Centro Atlântica)
- Brasil
Ferrovias the former Ferroban, Ferronorte and Novoeste freight
networks (Site in Portuguese, English version
promised)
- Ferropar
(Little information on website)
- MRS Logística
the former Central do Brasil network
- Estrada de Ferro Jari isolated line in the north of the
country, conveying timber from the forests of Pará state to a cellulose
factory at Munguba on the Jari river (68km, 1600mm gauge)
(No website located at present)
- Estrada de Ferro Trombetas isolated but heavily used line
in the north of the country, conveying bauxite from the mines of
Mineração Rio do Norte to the port of Trombetas harbour on the Amazon
river (30km) (No website located at present)
Suburban passenger railways
- Belo Horizonte (Site in Portuguese, little travel
information)
- Crato proposed light rail line linking the city with the
pilgrimage centre of Juazeiro do Norte (No website located
at present)
- João
Pessoa (Site in Portuguese)
- Maceió
(Site in Portuguese)
- Natal
(Site in Portuguese)
- Porto Alegre Trensurb (Site in
Portuguese)
- Recife (Site in Portuguese, no travel
information)
- Rio de Janeiro
- Central
outer suburban services (Site in Portuguese)
- SuperVia
inner suburban services (Site in Portuguese)
- São Paolo
CPTM (Site in Portuguese)
Metros
- Brasilia
Metrô-DF (Site in Portuguese)
- Belo
Horizonte MetroBH (Site in Portuguese)
- Curitiba proposed metro, possible a monorail
(Site in Portuguese)
- Fortaleza Metrofor (Site in
Portuguese)
- Goiania proposed metro (No website located at
present)
- Recife
Metrorec (Site in Portuguese)
- Rio de
Janeiro Rio Trilhos (Site in Portuguese, when last checked
did not contain service information. Service information - in Portuguese
and English - can be obtained from the website of the former operating
company, Metrô
Rio)
- Salvador metro under construction (Site
in Portuguese)
- São Paolo
Metrô (Site in Portuguese)
- Teresina proposed metro (Site in
Portuguese)
Tourist railways, trams and funicular
- Maria Fumaça is a name frequently associated with Brazilian
tourist railways. It does not refer to a particular railway, rather to a
class of locomotives (given the nickname Maria Fumaça or “Smoking
Mary”) that were once common on Brazilian narrow gauge railways and are
now frequently used on tourist services
- Viação Férrea Campinas Jaguariúna metre gauge tourist line
between Campinas and Jaguariúna (24.5km). Usually steam hauled
(Site in Portuguese, provided by ABOTTC)
- Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão metre gauge electric railway
between Campos do Jordão and Pindamonhangaba (47km). Historic trams
operate on the first 5km out of Campos do Jordão (Site in
Portuguese)
- Trem de Corcovado rack railway running through the Tijuca
National Park in the heart of Rio de Janeiro to the top of Corcovado
mountain with its giant statue of Christ the Redeemer
(Spot the deliberate mistake - the website uses a pre-1801
version of the flag of Great Britain!)
- Trem Estrada Real miniature tourist line in the city of
Paraíba do Sul, running from the Centro Municipal de Cultura to Cavaru.
Steam outline diesel locomotives (Site in Portuguese)
- Giordani
Turismo narrow gauge tourist line between Bento Gonçalves and
Carlos Barbosa (23km). Usually steam hauled (Site in Portuguese)
- Hidrelétrica de Itatinga 800mm gauge electric tramway, 13km
in length, linking the power station with the city of Bertioga. Provides
access for power station workers, and believed to be now available
for use by tourists (No website located at present)
- Monte Serrat Funicular connecting the city
of Santos to the Casino on Monte Serrat (Site in
Portuguese)
- Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas 760mm gauge railway between
São João del Rei and Tiradentes (12km). Usually steam hauled
(Site in Portuguese)
- Santa Teresa historic street trams in an
area of Rio de Janeiro, near the foot of Corcovado
(Site in Portuguese)
- Santos historic trams (No website located at present)
- Serra Verde Express metre gauge tourist line
between Curitiba and Paranaguá (110km)
- Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira narrow gauge tourist line
between Passa Quatro and Coronel Fulgêncio (10km). Usually steam
hauled (Site in Portuguese, provided by ABOTTC)
- Trem da Serra do Mar narrow gauge tourist train running
between Rio Negrinho and Rio Natal (42km). Usually steam hauled
(Site in Portuguese, provided by ABOTTC)
- SESC
Miniero / Grussaí railway museum near São João da Barra with a
10km complex of lines recreating the history in railways in Minas
Gerais (Site in Portuguese)
- Trem das Águas narrow gauge tourist line between
São Lourenço and Soledade de Minas (10km). Usually steam hauled
(Site in Portuguese)
- Trem dos Imigrantes steam hauled narrow gauge line making a
3km circuit from Estação Memorial dos Imigrantes in São Paulo. A
historic electric tram connects with the metro station at Bresser
(No website located at present)
