Feasibility study of the Belo Horizonte’s HSR begins this year

The feasibility study for the implementation of the branch of the High Speed Rail (Brazil HSR) – also called bullet train – in Belo Horizonte will be performed still in 2013. The survey will show if the train will connect Belo Horizonte to Campinas (state of São Paulo) or the state capital to Volta Redonda (state of Rio de Janeiro). In Curitiba, a similar study will be conducted.
Information is from the CEP of the Empresa de Planejamento e Logística S.A. (EPL), Bernardo Figueiredo, who attended a meeting with the Advisory Council of the EPL yesterday at the headquarters of the Society of Engineers of Minas Gerais (SME), in Belo Horizonte.

The international standard investment for this type of venture is around $24.5 million per kilometer installed. Excluding Belo Horizonte, Brazil HSR will go 510 km linking Rio de Janeiro to Campinas. The expectation is that the project demands about $14.7 billion.

The amount is much higher than that estimated for the three tracks of Belo Horizonte’s Metro, totaling 16.7 km, at a cost of $1.49 billion, which has been stuck for years.

The reference route (expected path) of the Brazil HSR has been confirmed between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. In Rio de Janeiro, the expectation is that the train has stations in Barão de Mauá, Galeão, and Barra Mansa / Volta Redonda. In São Paulo, there will be stops in Aparecida, São José dos Campos, Guarulhos, Campo de Marte, Viracopos and Campinas. The estimate is that this stretch of the project will be completed by 2020.

Composition

Brazil HSR is a means of transport able to compete with aircrafts in comfort, speed and price, the CEO of EPL said. Also, it will be in cities where there is no airport. According table released by the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT – Agência Nacional de Transportes Terrestres) and contained in the notice to bid, the prices to be charged are less than the average paid by the consumer to travel by plane.

The values will be differentiated according to the time of travel (peak hours or not) and the comfort chosen by the consumer (coach or business class). From Rio de Janeiro to São Paulo in peak hours, for example, the passage on the bullet train will cost $98.02 seat in coach class and $159.28 in business class. By plane, the trip is about $196.04 in the busiest hours and $88.21 in the hours of lower demand.