Government will change rules in the railway segment

A decree from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is ready and may be signed over the next few days, reformulating the rules from the Brazilian railway segment. Prepared over the past 18 months by the Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres – ANTT (National Land Transports Agency), the text changes the guidelines in force for 14 years and has two basic goals: making the segment more competitive and fostering investments in the network. With an eye on the future railway expansion, the new regulation will change the profile of the current grants. According to ANTT, today 62% of the Brazilian railway network is underused.

The new model follows the European standard and reminds of the road model. It creates the figure of capacity manager, that is, the company that administrates the railroad, paid by the movement on its network. Opposite to the current model, it will not have monopoly over the service that crosses its rails.

The scenario on which ANTT works is of a network with 28,831 km of railroads, from which 10,930 km are effectively explored.

Agency will review 12 granting contracts

Another novelty is the institution of the railway operator, which may take its locomotives and cars where there is load, regardless of the network. Bernardo Figueiredo, CEO of ANTT, believes that this model will encourage the railway manager to invest more, to ensure higher movement. For the agency, railway transportation may grow exponentially in Brazil.

– The railroads that transport more today in Brazil are Carajás and Vitória-Minas, from Vale, which take 100 to 120 million tons. In China, a railroad with the same characteristics transports 400 million tons. China has 60% of duplicated network, and we do not even have 5% – says Figueiredo.

However, change starts now. To increase competition, the agency will reconsider the 12 granting contracts with the four major companies in the segment: Transnordestina, Vale, ALL and MRS. One of the points in this discussion will be to review the lease paid on a yearly basis (approximately US$ 226 million), to facilitate investments:

– Our intention is to stop paying the lease in exchange of investments – says the CEO of ANTT.

Figueiredo ensures that the changes in grants are included in the existing contracts.

By Decree 1832, from March 1996, signed by then-president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the concessionaires establish goals and invest with the purpose of achieving them. As of 2012, this system begins to change: the global goals of a grant will be established by segments.

– If a certain segment has no goal, we will be free to offer to whom may be interested. If the segment has no feasibility, and does not receive any load, it is worth rethinking – states Figueiredo.

The agency will determine criteria for the concessionaires to establish their costs. With this, it intends to avoid that a company artificially increases its rate to prevent the entrance of another one in its network. It will also review the current top-rate calculation, established during the period of Rede Ferroviária Federal – RFFSA (Federal Railway Network).

User dissatisfied with freight may create own service

The figure of the dependent user, who needs the railroad for conducting business, will also be created over the next few months. If the user is not satisfied with the freight charged by concessionaires, it may create its own service, putting car, locomotive and paying the right of passage, that is, the toll for using another party’s railroad.

The model has the purpose of preparing Brazil for the planned railway system expansion. The works from the Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento – PAC (Growth Acceleration Program) may expand the current network in 5,290 km. The PAC 2, with US$ 26 billion of investments expected, includes the construction of another 9,672 km.

This total includes expansion works (4,696 km), the High-Speed Train Rio-São Paulo, and studies for new segments, which add 2,985 km. State-owned company Valec will be the one responsible for studies and grants, which shall interconnect all existing networks, crossing Brazil with railroads.