President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva participates in the inauguration, this Friday (16), of the terminal in Rio Verde (GO) of the company Rumo, concessionaire of the North-South Railroad. The event marks the completion of works on the railway link that is considered the backbone of the Brazilian rail transport system, as it connects the ports of Itaqui, in Maranhão, to Santos, in São Paulo. Construction began in the second half of the 1980s. In all, the complete railway is 2,257 kilometers (km) and crosses four regions. “The conclusion allows three states with strong production of commodities – such as soy, corn and cotton – to have an outlet for their products by sea. Goiás, Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais gain competitiveness when exporting their products, either along the coast of the Southeast Region or through the north of the country. As a practical result, development and job creation for the entire new logistics corridor”, said the federal government, in a note. The event in Rio Verde is scheduled for 10:30 am, with the presence of President Lula, the Minister of Transport, Renan Filho, and representatives of the company responsible for delivering the terminal and federal, state and municipal authorities. Started in 1986, Ferrovia Norte Sul evolved little in the first decades and only gained momentum from 2007, when it began to receive investments from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC), in Lula’s second term. At that time, the stretch from Açailândia (MA) to Porto Nacional (TO) was granted for operation by VLI Logística. The company Rumo now manages the central-south section of the railroad, between Porto Nacional (TO) and Estrela D’Oeste (SP), in a stretch of 1,537 km. In the interior of São Paulo, the railroad connects with the Malha Paulista, which goes to the coast. In the last four years, Rumo built three new terminals in São Simão (GO), Rio Verde (GO) and Iturama (MG). According to the government, the company invested BRL 4 billion in infrastructure works, terminals and rolling stock. In addition to the terminals, other infrastructure works were necessary to complete the railroad, such as the construction of four bridges between Goiás, São Paulo and Minas Gerais, hundreds of kilometers of tracks and numerous yards, such as the one that connects the Central Meshes and Paulista in the city of Estrela D’Oeste (SP). Potential Despite the railway modal having received investments over the last few decades, which add up to more than R$ 141.9 billion, according to the National Association of Railway Transporters (ANTF), the segment still represents about 21.5% of cargo transport in the country, lower than continental countries like Russia (81%), Canada (34%), United States (27%) and Australia (55%). According to ANTF, in 2021 more than 93% of exported iron ore arrived at Brazilian ports by rail. Rail transport accounts for more than 49% of agricultural solid bulk exports and, in the case of sugar, this index is almost 53%. In corn transport, the railroad transports 58% of the production, and in the soy complex (soybean and bran) the railroads transported more than 46% of the exported volume.
Agência Brasil
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