March 2015
“With an average of 2% of GDP invested in transport in the last 5 years, Brazil is planning to raise this to 5% of GDP. R$91bn (£29.7bn) for rail will be invested predominantly in the next 5 years, with significant investment areas including Sao Paulo with R$45bn (£14.7bn) in the region as well as Rio de Janeiro and other regional projects across the country,” Danny reports from the event.
The Railway Infrastructure Director, National Department of Infrastructure, Mario Dirani underlined the need for large scale investment in rail infrastructure and the need to upgrade Signalling to reduce headways and congestion to drive down car and lorry usage.
“This was particularly relevant to Sao Paulo urban areas,” Danny said. “Recently completed Government funded studies have presented views on minimising conflicts, reducing car and lorry usage and driving up reliability. He also described acceptance within Government circles that Bahia on the east coast will now get a Subway. Expect further details to emerge in the next 12 months.”
A big issue, according to Mario Dirani, is the need for transport integration which is not happening quickly enough. Also that designs for route upgrades will sit heavily with infrastructure concessionaires within a PPP approach framework. This has proved a successful alliance around Line 4 in Sao Paulo as described by Director Claudio Andrade. He emphasised the investment has seen quickly growing patronage with individual lines in Sao Paulo seeing in excess of 1m customers a day.
The Olympics and FIFA World Cup are driving further investment. Waldir Peres, State Government, Rio de Janeiro detailed the high levels of investment in Metro services. Projects to build new station and trains are still coming through, presenting new business opportunities.
“North Star are continuing to actively seeking opportunities to provide operational support to new developing projects and expertise with Olympics and FIFA World Cup preparations. With our proven track record abroad and in the UK, our depth of experience evolved significantly during the London Olympics, providing significant Operational support to the Docklands Light Railway through 2011 and 2012,” Danny said.
