Railways in
Brazil
A train of the Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas at
São João del Rei.
The first railway in Brazil was opened in 1845 between Fragoso in the
present day township of Magé, near Rio de Janeiro, and Praia da Estrela
at the head of Guanabara Bay, a distance of 14.5km. It was built to the
unique gauge of 1680mm. Subsequent railway construction was predominantly
metre gauge, resulting in an extensive network of lines in the Northeast,
Southeast and South regions, with some penetration into the interior.
In the 20th century a number of 1600mm gauge lines were opened in the
Southeast region, forming a network which was to become the predominant
gauge in those states; a few lines were dual metre and 1600mm gauge.
1600mm was chosen as being similar to the gauge used by Brazil’s former
colonial ruling country, Portugal.
A number of mining railways, mostly in Minas Gerais, were built to
760mm gauge. A short section of one of these survives as a tourist
railway. One isolated railway in Amapá state in the North was built to
a gauge of 1440mm (slightly wider than standard gauge). Some new
railways are being built to standard (1435mm) gauge, notably various
urban light rail projects. A very short section of standard gauge
connects a metre gauge freight interchange near the Argentine border
with the standard gauge network of Argentina. There are long term
proposals for new high speed lines, which would also be standard gauge,
and the possibility of converting some or all of the 1600mm gauge lines
to standard gauge is being examined.
The original metre gauge and 1600mm gauge networks are largely
intact; some sections which had closed have been or are being
rehabilitated, and some new lines constructed.
Following privatisation of the national network in the early
21st century, a number of companies operate the railways. The network
is now predominantly freight only; passenger services operate mainly
in urban areas and on a just a few long distance lines. In 2012,
the goverment announced the creation of a new agency to oversee the
creation of new freight and high speed passenger lines, which could
amount to 10000km of new construction over 30 years.
Among these are a new 1100km standard gauge railway linking Sinop
in the grain producing area of the Mato Grosso with the Amazon port
of Miritituba. Tenders for the construction and operation of this
line were invited in 2017. In 2019, feasibility studies were started
into two new lines from Cascavel, one to the Brazil / Argentina /
Paraguay border at Foz do Iguaçu, the other to Maracaju, where it
would meet the existing line from Campo Grande to the Paraguayan
border.
In 2021, a concession was let for the construction and operation
of the first 537 km section of the Ferrovia de Integração Oeste-Leste
(FIOL) between the port of Ilhéus and Caetité. Subsequent planned
sections are 485 km from Caetité to Barreiras, and 505 km from
Barreiras to Figueirópolis where a connection will be made with the
Ferrovia Norte Sul.
A new 1600m gauge railway, Estrada de Ferro Maranhão, serving
a deep sea port on the island of Cajual, on the opposite site of
the Baía de São Marcos from the existing port at Ponta da Madeira.
A initial 220km line would connect the port with the Estrada de
Ferro Carajás near Santa Ines; subsequently, a further 300km
would connect with the Ferrovia Norte Sul near Açailândia, when
that line is completed.
Several major cities have metro systems, operating or under
construction. Traditional tram systems, once popular, have with a
few exceptions disappeared, but number of new light rail systems are
under construction.
At Uruguiana in Rio Grande do Sul, near the Argentine border, there
is a major intermodal container terminal which also permits interchange
of traffic between Rumo’s metre gauge network in Brazil and the standard
gauge network of Trenes Argentinos in Argentina. A similar arrangement
exists at Santana do Livramento for interchange with the standard gauge
network of AFE in Uruguay. A former international rail connection with
Bolivia and a second interchange with the network of Uruguay are now
out of use.
Main line railways
- Estrada de Ferro Alcoa private railway connecting bauxite mines
in the Juruti area of Pará state with a port facility near Juruti
town, a distance of about 55km (Pages relating to Juruti
operation in Portuguese)
- Estrada de Ferro do Amapá private railway in Amapá state
connecting iron ore mines at Serra do Navio with a port facility
near Santana on the Atlantic coast (192km, 1440mm gauge). Inactive
since 2018, proposed for reopening (No website located at
present)
- Bamin
concessionary for the first stage of FIOL from Ilhéus to Caetité
(Site mainly in Portuguese with some information in English,
when last checked contained no information
relating to railway)
- Brado
independent freight operator (Site in Portuguese)
- Ferroeste railway in the state of Paraná between
Guarapuava and Cascavel (250km, metre gauge) (Site in
Portuguese)
- Ferrogrão proposed railway between Sinop, Mato
Grosso and Miritituba, Para
- Estrada de Ferro do Maranhão proposed railway serving the
new sea port on the island of Cajual (No website located at
present)
- MRS Logística
railways in the Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo regions
(network totalling 1650km, 1600mm gauge)
- Rumo Logística freight operator in São Paulo state,
operating on metre and 1600m gauge railway networks totalling around
12000km
- Ferrovia Tereza
Cristina railway linking the coal mining areas of Santa Catarina
with the port of Imbituba (164km, metre gauge) (Site in
Portuguese)
- Transnordestina a group of existing, rehabilitated
and new lines in the northeast of the country totalling around 4000km;
predominantly metre gauge with a new 1600mm gauge line under construction
(Pages relating to railway in Portuguese)
- Estrada de Ferro Trombetas private railway in the state
of Pará, conveying bauxite from the mines of Saracá, Almeidas and Aviso
to the port facilities of Trombetas on the River Amazon (28km, metre
gauge). Owned by MRN (Mineração Rio do
Norte) (Site in Portuguese)
- Vale - mining consortium which operates several major
railways:
- Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas (905km, metre gauge)
- Estrada de Ferro Carajás (903km, 1600mm gauge)
- Ferrovia Norte Sul (720km, 1600mm gauge)
- VLI
Logística Owner and operator of the extensive Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica
network (over 8000km, metre gauge) and independent freight operator on the
lines of Vale
- Empresa de
Planejamento e Logística company formed to promote the planning,
building and operation of new main line railways (Site in
Portuguese)
Long distance passenger services
- Vale operates passenger
services on two of its railways:
- Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas Vitória to Belo Horizonte
(664km, metre gauge) with a branch from Drumond to Itabira (35km)
- Estrada de Ferro Carajás São Luís to Maranhão and
Parauapebas, Pará (892km, metre gauge)
(Passenger information in Portuguese only)
- Estrada de Ferro do Amapá is believed to operate passenger
services, but information is not readily available (No website
located at present)
Suburban passenger railways
- Belo Horizonte (Site in
Portuguese)
- João Pessoa (Site in Portuguese)
- Maceió (Site in Portuguese)
- Natal (Site in Portuguese)
- Porto
Alegre Trensurb
- Recife (Site in Portuguese)
- Rio de Janeiro
- Central
outer suburban services (Site in Portuguese)
- SuperVia
inner suburban services
- São Paolo
- CPTM
suburban railways to the north and east of the city (Site
in Portuguese)
- Via Mobilidade suburban railways to the south
and west of the city (Site in Portuguese)
Metros and light rail
- Brasilia
Metrô-DF (Site in Portuguese)
- Bahia
proposed monorail (Site in Portuguese)
- Cariri light rail (Site in
Portuguese)
- Cuiabà
proposed light rail (Site in Portuguese)
- Curitiba proposed metro (Site in
Portuguese)
- Fortaleza Metrofor light rail (Site in
Portuguese)
- Goiania proposed light rail (No website
located at present)
- Niterói proposed light rail (No website
located at present)
- Porto Alegre
- Airport
People Mover fan propelled people mover connecting Aeroporto station
(Trensurb) with the passenger terminal of Salgado Filho International
Airport, a distance of about 900m
- Rio de Janeiro
- Salvador
- Santos light rail (Site in
Portuguese)
- São Paolo
metro, monorail and proposed airport people mover (Site in
Portuguese)
- Sobral light rail (Site in
Portuguese)
- Sorocaba proposed light rail (No website
located at present)
- Teresina
Tourist railways, historic 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
- Trem das Águas São Lourenço to Soledade de Minas
(10km, narrow gauge). Usually steam hauled (Site mainly in
Portuguese with some information in English)
- ABPF Campinas tourist line between Campinas
and Jaguariúna (24.5km, metre gauge). Usually steam hauled (Site
in Portuguese)
- Estrada de Ferro Campos do Jordão electric railway between Campos
do Jordão and Pindamonhangaba (47km, metre gauge). Tourist steam
trains and historic electric trams operate along the first few km of
the line from Campos do Jordão.
- 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 (Website
takes some time to load, with no option to skip intro)
- Giordani
Turismo Bento Gonçalves to Carlos Barbosa (23km, narrow gauge).
Usually steam hauled. Also know as Trem do Vinho.
(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
(Site in Portuguese)
- Trem dos Ingleses steam hauled train rides on a narrow
gauge line about 800m in length, in the grounds of Paranapiacaba
Railway Museum in Santo André (Site in Portuguese)
- Trem das Montanhas Capixabas Viana to Araguaya (46km,
narrow gauge). Diesel railcars (Unoffical but informative site
in Portuguese)
- Monte Serrat Funicular connecting the city
of Santos to the Casino on Monte Serrat (Site in
Portuguese)
- Estrada de Ferro Oeste de Minas São João del
Rei to Tiradentes (12km, 760mm gauge). Usually steam hauled (No
website located at present)
- Trem do Pantanal Campo Grande to Miranda
(220km, narrow gauge). Diesel hauled (No website located at
present)
- Trem Rubi Tubarão to Siderópolis (120km,
760mm gauge). Usually steam hauled (No website located at present)
- Estrada de Ferro Santa Catarina from Apiúna, 2.8km, narrow gauge. 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 Curitiba to Paranaguá (110km,
metre gauge) (Site in Portuguese, links for other languages
not functional when last checked)
- Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira Passa Quatro to Coronel
Fulgêncio (10km, narrow gauge). Usually steam hauled (Site
mainly in Portuguese with some information in English)
- Trem da Serra do Mar Rio Negrinho to Rio Natal (42km,
narrow gauge). Usually steam hauled (Site in Portuguese)
- Trem das Termas Piratubo to Marcelina Ramos (25km, narrow
gauge). Usually steam hauled (Site in Portuguese)
- Trem da Vale Ouro Preto to Mariana (18km, metre gauge).
Steam or diesel hauled (Passenger information in Portuguese
only)