Railroad has pre-privatization speed

While all attention is being given to the concession of the first bullet train service in Brazil which should reach a top speed of 300 km/h, freight railroads have stopped in time when it comes to speed. In more than a decade since privatization, Brazil has not managed to improve on the average of 29 km/h – which is well below the indicators of competing markets. Greater speed would raise the capacity of the national rail network.

Brazilian trains are 34% slower than those of the United States and 62% slower than those in China, according to a study conducted by the Logistics and Supply Chain Institute (Instituto de Logística e Supply Chain – ILOS). There are some cases in the country where the train units (locomotives and coaches) have not exceeded the average speed of 15 km/h. This is, for example, the case on the Transnordestina Railroad, which is operated by the National Steel Company (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional – CSN), being the old stretch that once belonged to the National Railroads.

The low speed has arisen from several different factors and is not easy to solve, in the opinion of the CEO of ILOS, Paulo Fleury. The first obstacle is the contract of concession. The companies that manage the railroads argue that much of the investment is the responsibility of the Federal Government.

Among the obligations of the State is that of solving the excess of level crossings between railroads and roads. The lack of bridges or tunnels to overcome these barriers means that the locomotives need to reduce speed or even stop.

Another bottleneck is what is known as the invasion of the domain strip, which is the construction of houses right beside the tracks, says Mr Fleury. In and around Santos, for example, the trains have to crawl along at an average speed of 10 km/h because of the movement of people, cars, bicycles and motorcycles along the railroad. The list of obstacles also includes the passage of the trains through urban areas. In São Paulo, freight trains and passenger trains share the same tracks.

However, the fact is that the concessionaires are also responsible, and improvement to the trackbed, including the replacement of old tracks and sleepers (concrete bars that hold the tracks) are just some of the duties that the companies have, and also significantly speed up the trains. However, only now are they starting to wake up to this problem. One of the reasons for this is the increase in demand.

In the case of the Transnordestina, which has the lowest speed in the whole country (15 km/h), the company says that they took over the network in a dire state, totally scrapped, and has already invested a total of US$ 306.19 million. At the moment, the company is replacing the sleepers, tracks and fixing devices in the stretch between São Luís (MA) and Fortaleza (CE). In relation to the rest of the route of this railroad, the problem will be solved with the construction of the New Transnordestina, which will replace the stretch between the cities of Missão Velha (CE) and Fortaleza. The expectations are that, with this construction work, the speed will be increased to 80 km/h.

The Central Atlantic Railroad (Ferrovia Centro-Atlântica – FCA), which is managed by Vale, has the second slowest speed (22 km/h). The justification given by the Operations Director of the company is the sheer size of the network, some 8 thousand km. He explains that the company is remodeling a stretch of 700 km, with the installation of new tracks that make a higher speed possible. We have already replaced some 150 km and an additional 90 km will be replaced this year. There is also the modernization of an area in Belo Horizonte (MG), the purchase of quicker locomotives and the expansion of terminals.

Latin America Logistics (América Latina Logística – ALL) has decided to invest in communication mechanisms and also improvements to the track bed, to increase the speed of the trains. The expectations are that the practices already in place will boost capacity by 20% in São Paulo State; 8% in the Southern Network and 8% in the Western Network, says the quality and products superintendent of the company, René Silva. The West Network of the company has the third lowest speed on the national system.

Brazil’s fastest railroad is the Vitória to Minas Railroad (Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas – EFVM), managed by Vale. The speed in this stretch of railroad is 36 km/h, similar to that of the United States. The silver medal goes to the São Paulo network of ALL.

The slowest

The Transnordestina highway has a total length of 8 thousand kilometers.

The average speed on the railroad is 15 km/h.