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Brazil Railroads
Railroads
Railroads total at least 30,129 kilometers, of which 24,690 kilometers
consist of 1.000-meter gauge, 5,120 kilometers consist of 1.600-meter
gauge, 310 kilometers consist of mixed 1.600- to 1.000-meter gauge,
13 kilometers consist of 0.760-meter gauge, and 2,150 kilometers
are electrified. Rail projects from mining areas to ports have accounted
for the bulk of investment in the railroads since the mid-1980s.
Mining companies operate several privately owned railroads. In 1987 the
government announced controversial plans to build a 1,600-kilometer
north-south railroad to link the city of Açailândia,
in Maranhão State, with Brasília. The Federal Railroad
System, Inc. (Rêde Ferroviária Federal S.A.--RFFSA)
is responsible for suburban networks throughout Brazil. By 1994
the government had approved plans to privatize RFFSA. A new railroad
running westward from Santos through agricultural
lands, then north reaching near the Amazon's southwestern margin,
is being built by a private entrepreneur's railroad company, Ferronorte.
Data as of April 1997
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