President defends investment in railroads

“This country definitely needs to fulfill these commitments: stability, credibility and predictability. We have to put on paper and fulfill what we put on paper so that no one is caught by surprise”, said Lula, during the ceremony for the start of works on Lot 1F of the West-East Integration Railroad (Fiol), in Ilhéus, on the coast. from Bahia.

“I would like to say to the businessmen who are in this endeavor to build the railroad that it is not in the interest of a businessman or another entrepreneur, it is in the interest of national sovereignty to build this railroad and other railroads in the country so that we can have this country competitive with any another country in the world,” he added.

Still for the president, the development of the country and the improvement of the quality of life of society pass through the formation and professional qualification of the population. Lula recalled that, despite the fact that Brazil’s railway network project is old, the country has stopped training railway engineers and investing in the industry of this modal.

“This country no longer produces rails, in fact, this country no longer produced sleepers. I remember that we created the largest sleeper factory in the world when we started making Transnordestina. And today she stopped. CSN (Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional) 40 years ago produced rails, today it no longer produces”, said Lula.

“So, it is a shame for a country the size of Brazil, which wants to have a rail network to facilitate the transport of its wealth, having to import rail from another country, with the amount of iron ore we have and the number of steel mills. that we have. This is a challenge for us, Brazil is importing rails when it could produce here, to generate more jobs in the country and opportunities for the growth of our people’s citizenship”, argued the president.

rail integration

Fiol is made up of three stretches, the first of which – Fiol 1 – connects the Bahian cities of Ilhéus and Caetité, with 537 kilometers in length, and passes through 19 municipalities. The forecast for the beginning of the operation of this section is from 2027, but Lula asked that “overtime” be done so that the work is delivered before the end of his mandate, in 2026.

The Civil House minister, Rui Costa, stated that Fiol’s project will be included in the government’s new infrastructure program, which should be launched later this month.

According to the government, the railway integration will consolidate a flow corridor for the foreign market for iron ore in the southern region of the state and for grains in the western region. When in full operation, the estimate that the use of the modal promotes a reduction of 86% in the emission of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The works on Fiol’s Lot 1F are under the responsibility of Bahia Mineração (Bamin), which won the concession for the stretch in an auction held in April 2021.

Stretching 127 kilometers, Lot 1F is one of the five construction lots on Fiol 1 and passes through Ilhéus, Uruçuca, Ubaitaba, Gongogi, Itagibá, Aurelino Leal and Aiquara. Of the four remaining lots, two are already completed.

The works on the stretch will receive R$ 1.5 billion in investments from Bahia Ferrovias (Bafer), a sub-concession of Bamin, and will be carried out by the TCR-10 Consortium, formed by the Brazilian company Tiisa and the Chinese company CREC-10.

In total, Fiol will be 1,527 kilometers long. The railroad will link the future port of Ilhéus to the municipality of Figueirópolis, in Tocantins, at which point it will connect with Norte-Sul.

The National Land Transport Agency works for the concession of the other two stretches: Fiol 2, between Caetité and Barreiras, in Bahia, with works in progress, and Fiol 3, from Barreiras to Figueirópolis, which is still awaiting an installation license.