Urban mobility has US$5.87 billion (R$ 10 billion) in opportunities

Suppliers of equipment and technology for urban mobility, such as the Canadian Company Bombardier and the French Company Alstom, have opportunities that together are about US$5.87 (R$ 10 billion) in contracts in Brazil for the next years. Calculated by the private party, the amount is leveraged by the Federal Government’s financing for the projects on the industry due to the needs from the World Cup 2014. Monorail projects and light rail vehicles on rails (LRVs), in general cheaper than underground trains as the trains of São Paulo’s metro, already increased the investment of Companies in national territory.

The contract signed by the Government of the State of São Paulo, after a bid made in 2010 for supplying monorail coaches, was a milestone for Bombardier in Brazil. Until then, the Company had a unit in Hortolândia, but not for trains manufacture – it just remodeled trains. The major business made by the Canadian Company before the monorail contract was the update of 156 coaches for São Paulo Metropolitan Transportation Company (Companhia do Metropolitano de São Paulo – Metrô) for US$139.91 million (R$ 238 million) – deal closed in 2009.

With the new contract, the Company shall supply 54 trains – or 378 coaches –for the first monorail project for São Paulo, the Expresso Tiradentes. Coaches, signaling and electric system shall cost US$824 million (R$ 1.4 billion). Due to this contract, the Company is investing € 15 million (about US$20.6) to launch its monorail plant in Hortolândia, countryside of São Paulo, up to April. According to André Guyvarch, CEO of Bombardier Transportation in Brazil, this will be the first unit outside Canada who will manufacture this kind of vehicle.

To have an idea about the business attractiveness of this area in national territory, the project that the Government of São Paulo is executing for the monorail is the one with the biggest extension of the world for this modal – generally used for short distances only, as connection to airports. The monorail – cheaper than underground metro trains – operates using rubber tires on concrete instead of railway rolling stocks – and therefore is seen by the State Government as a solution for the urban transportation neck in the city of São Paulo.

Besides of the ones already deployed by the Government of São Paulo, there are, in Brazil, at least four big projects in development for monorail use. One of them is in Manaus (AM), which shall connect the North region of the city, passing through the bus station, the hotel area and Arena Amazônia. The ongoing project is risked to not be in operation up to the World Cup. Even so, the Government of Amazonas already pointed out the intention to do the project even after the due date. According to State authorities, the “festas do boi”, which take place in October at the Sambódromo, next to the future arena, receive 180 thousand people in a single day. This, together with the locals’ needs, is the reason the project is still alive.

Besides the monorail, several LRV’s projects are in deployment phase; LRVs are powered by electricity and remind us of the ancient street cars. According to the manufacturers, its technology has less capacity and velocity that metro trains, but they produce less pollution and noise. The most expensive in current development is Cuiabá’s (MT). The project’s budget is estimated at US$741.61 million (R$ 1.26 billion) (including the construction); the prediction for starting the works is in March of this year and its conclusion in December 2013.

Also, with an eye on these projects, the French Company Alstom is planning to invest US$5.88 million (R$ 10 million) in the next years for manufacturing LRVs in Brazil. During an interview to Valor three months ago, the General Director of transportation of Alston in the country, Ramon Fondevilla, said that the Company’s goal was that manufacturing on national territory meets the requests from supply contracts to the public power. Currently, at least five projects of the modal in large cities in Brazil made by Alstom are under survey.

One of the main targets of the Company is the one idealized by the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro. The project is called Porto Maravilha (Maravilha Port), in Rio, is being made by CCR (which won the survey for public competition in November 2010), and foreseen to be in operation by the 2016 Olympic Games.