The Ministry of Transportation, Paulo Sérgio Passos, launches this Friday (29th), in Teresina, the program Passengers and Cargo Regional Train, which will connect the Teresina and Altos cities, in Piauí, to Timon, Caxias e Codó, in Maranhão.
Paulo Sérgio Passos and the Governor Wilson Martins inaugurate the new Light rail vehicle (LRV), making a symbolic trip from the Teresina Railroad Station, located at Avenida Miguel Rosa, to the Timon Railroad Station, returning to Teresina right after.
The LRV is actually the Hungarian train manufactured by Ganz-Mavag and imported by the Federal Railroad Network during the 70’s, which was remodeled by Ferrovias Manutenção e Engenharia.
From the original train, the box and the diesel-hydraulic system are preserved. It received a new braking system, air-conditioning, new wheels and axles, and contemporary design.
The Hungarian train, as it is known, operated during the 70’s in Rio Grande do Sul, between Porto Alegre and Uruguaiana. During the 90’s the train went to Teresina, in Piauí.
The import of the Hungarian trains belongs to a time in which the government policy (military) was to produce commercial balances at any cost, even with country that could not pay in Dollars, such as Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia and Romanian.
We exported coffee, ore and steel and we received papers. The most famous were the “polonetas”, corresponding to a balance around R$ 6 billion, accumulated in the end of the 70’s. To avoid total loss, the government demanded that the Estate companies started by the Railroad Network and by Cia. Vale do Rio Doce, to import heavy equipment from these countries – which was the only thing they had to offer – without looking at the price or quality.
Twelve diesel-hydraulic train units (DMU) were acquired from Ganz-Mavag, but only 11 arrived in Brazil – one of the trains was seriously damaged in a storm when passing by the English Channel. Six trains stayed to operate in the São Paulo network – in the São Paulo-Santos; Santos-Jundiaí; São Paulo-Campinas-Rio Claro; Cubatão(Cosipa)-Santos sections – and between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (at the time, it was like a test for the use of high speed). The other five trains went to Rio Grande do Sul, to be used in the Porto Alegre-Uruguaiana section.
In addition, besides the Ganz-Mavag, arrived at the time 5,900 cars from Vagona Kraljevo Yugoslavia and Uzina de Vagoane ARAD Romanian, and tracks from Huta Katowice Polish.
According to Antônio Sobral, administrative director of Companhia Metropolitana de Transportes Públicos de Teresina (CMTP), the LRV costs R$ 1.5 million. We already have a LRV in operation, serving 15 thousand people. With this new train we will be able to increase this offer to 22 thousand passengers. By September, we will deliver other two LVRs, benefiting a total of 35 thousand people, highlights the director.
The LRV is more comfortable, fast and economic than the trains used in Teresina. Because of that, the passengers cost is also lower. The metro fare in Teresina costs R$ 0.50, while the bus fare costs R$ 1.90. These amounts evidence the social impact of the revitalization project of the Great Teresina Railroad Network.
The regional Train program foresees the recovery of the railroad sections that connect cities with more than 100 thousand inhabitants throughout Brazil. The governor Wilson Martins requested to the minister to give priority to the section that connects Piauí and Maranhão and he though it was pertinent, said Sobral.
The minister Paulo Sérgio Passos will authorize the elaboration of a study and budget of the undertaking. The study will analyze which sections need to be recovered, which stations need improvements, how many people go from Teresina to Timon and vice-versa per day, which are the attractive points for these people, reports Antônio Sobral, highlighting that the duration time and the work amount will only be known after the conclusion of the study.
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