The rail transport segment shall have new rules for goods transport as from the end of January. The new rules shall treble the volume of cargo, including products and supplies, which are transported by rail, with the sole exception of iron ore which already makes widespread use of this means of transport. This statement was made by the General Director of the National Land Transport Agency (Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres – ANTT), Bernardo Figueiredo, on announcing the measures today (17 December).
According to Mr. Figueiredo, the new rules also have the aim of tackling idleness of the network, as the fact is that, out of the 28 thousand kilometers of railway lines in the country, 18 thousand kilometers are underused, and half are not used at all. If the company does not make these lines usable, they shall be returned to the Government, he warned. Also according to Mr. Figueiredo, only 10 thousand kilometers of railway track see the passage of at least one train a day.
For the General Director, the statistics that are currently used, that rail transport accounts for 25% of the total volume of goods transport in the country, are overestimated. He observed that this rate is from the 1970s and that nowadays the percentage should be less than 10%. We have no study of what is transported by road, but using figures of the general turnover of the sector and fuel consumption, we can say that (the rail sector represents) less than 10% (of goods transport), he said.
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Regulations
The ANTT has published today, in the Official Federal Government Gazette (Diário Oficial da União), three new directives with new regulations for the segment. The first establishes the procedures for passage rights and mutual traffic operations, seeking the integration of the federal railway system. The second sets procedures for the agreement of production targets and also security, by stretch of line, for the concessionaires of the public service of transport of goods by rail, and also participation in the safety targets regime for transporters of goods by rail. The third such resolution establishes the regulations for the defense of users of transport of goods by rail. There is a need to unlock the sector somewhat, and these three resolutions achieve this, assures Mr. Figueiredo.
According to Mr. Figueiredo, the new regulations change the relationship between the railways and the market. He mentions the example of passage rights, which were formerly exercised only in cases where mutual traffic was impossible, and which now are mandatory. The railway shall not be able to refuse passage, he stressed. He also explained that, should there be a need for additional investment to allow passage rights, then the company interested in these passage rights shall bear the costs. The price of such passage rights shall be agreed between the parties. Should an agreement not be possible, then ANTT shall arbitrate a value.
The aim of the resolution of targets by stretch, according to Mr. Figueiredo, is an induction so that the concessionaire shall be more aggressive than the targets, thereby leading to lower fares. The aim of this measure, he explained, is to avoid the non-use of the lines. The company will say what they consider as capacity and we shall be auditing this, he said. For this purpose, by the end of the year there shall be the installation of a control centre for concessionaires, a kind of Big Brother™ that shall monitor the lines, without interfering in the company of the activities. For the passage rights operation to be efficient, someone has to control this, he pointed out.
The third resolution opens the possibility that the user of railway transport of goods being the operator itself for self-service, should this method be more advantageous to the user, when compared with passage rights. No-one shall be stripped of the right to access the network, he pointed out. However, on the day when it is more of an advantage for the client to create a train and self-operate, this is because the concessionaires are charging prices that are excessively high, he noted.
The texts are available on the ANTT website (www.antt.gov.br) and shall remain available for public consultation for a period of one month. The forecast is that they shall take effect at the end of January.
Roads
Mr. Figueiredo also said today that the Government initiative to implement a new model for the concession of roads is welcome. If this is a Government decision, then this is the right decision, as it expands the Government’s ability to make investments, he said. However, he observed that this issue has not yet arrived at the ANTT.
Mr. Figueiredo was talking about the article published today in the Valor Econômico newspaper about a new model for the concession of 20 thousand kilometers of roads that is being prepared by the Federal Government, in which the private companies that would take on the concession would only be responsible for maintenance. The major work, such as the expansion of roadways and viaducts, would remain the responsibility of the Government. This would make toll charges cheaper.
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