Federal Government aims to expedite railway concessions across Brazil

According to the Government, the measure aims to ensure greater legal certainty and expedite railway projects in the country (Matheus Tagé/AT Archive)

The Ministry of Transport has issued a new directive to the federal public company Infra S.A. with the goal of accelerating the environmental licensing of strategic railway projects, such as Ferrogrão, EF-118, and the corridor formed by the Center West and West East integration railways (Fico-Fiol). The Union will now take over this administrative process.

The document was signed by the National Railway Transport Secretariat and the Sustainability Secretariat of the Ministry of Transport. According to the Government, this measure seeks to ensure greater legal certainty and speed up railway projects across the country. Currently, environmental licensing is requested only after the contract is signed by the winning concessionaire.

Sustainability By allowing the Union to handle the preliminary licensing process, the Government claims it is committing to the environmental sustainability of the projects, “mitigating risks to attract private investments”, as highlighted in a statement on the Ministry's website.

“The current model deters investors due to the delays and complexity of the procedures. Our goal is to simplify and make the process more transparent to ensure the sector's attractiveness and development”, said the National Railway Transport Secretary, Leonardo Ribeiro.