by João Marcelo
SAO PAULO – The logistics company Rumo opened at the end of last week, the 4th, a section of the North-South Railway between São Simão / GO and Estrela D’Oeste / SP. The ceremony marked the beginning of the operation of the railway corridor linking the state of Goiás, a major agricultural producer, to the Port of Santos in São Paulo. The Minister of Infrastructure, Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas and President Jair Bolsonaro attended the ceremony, held at the São Simão / GO terminal. Last year, the company disbursed R $ 711 million in bridges and tens of kilometers of rails for infrastructure works at the terminal. The stretch has as its main objective to take agribusiness production from the States of Goiás and Tocantins to be exported through the Port of Santos (SP). The route will be done with trains with 120 wagons, and not more than 80, which means more efficiency. With gains in gas emissions and fuel economy, each composition went from 1.5 km to 2.2 km in length. In addition to the terminal officially opened last Thursday, two others, in Rio Verde (GO) and Iturama (MG), are expected to open soon. In the city of Goiás, the forecast is that it will occur until June and in the city of Minas Gerais, at the end of the first semester of next year.
The railroad project started in 1987, during the government of José Sarney, but the first 215 km long stretch, which connects Açailândia, in Maranhão (MA) to Porto Franco, in the same state, was only completed during the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, in 1996. Since its creation, several works have been carried out and today the section managed by Rumo has 1537 km. Another 720 km are in operation by the sub-concessionaire Ferrovia Norte Sul S.A, currently controlled by the holding company, VLI.
Despite being an advance, Brazil still needs to invest a lot in its railway network, as explained in an interview to Dire agency,