Public investment reactivates railway transportation industry
Valor Econômico
Public investments in railway passenger transportation are reactivating the national industry of trains and equipment for the segment, dormant for more than 20 years in Brazil. From a production exclusively aimed at the exportation from 2003 to 2006, the railway sector aimed at passengers is growing and it now has 15% of the manufacture aimed at the domestic market.
The perspective of the launching of the Rio-São Paulo high speed train and of projects of subway and light rail vehicles (LRV) in capitals that are being prepared to receive the 2014 FIFA World Cup games is creating an environment favorable for the development of production lines in the country. They are at least R$ 74.4 billion (US$ 41.3 billion) to be invested by the Federal and States Governments up to 2014 in undertakings in the sector.
The resumption of the industry is visible with the recent installation of a plant of the Spanish CAF in Hortolândia (SP) and it has already had impact in the planning of companies like Alstom and Bombardier that have an eye on the possibility of diversifying the production in the country. In spite of not giving an interview, Siemens also shows the market its intention to increase its operations. From 2005 to 2008, the National production of passenger trains grew 147%, whereas the participation in the exports fell from 100% to 89% in the same period, which shows a gain of space of the domestic market. In the first half of this year, the production repeated last year's pace and the exports continued reducing their significance, going to 84% of the total.
Among the cities interested in investing in the system of light rail vehicles for passengers are Recife, Natal, Salvador, Fortaleza, Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, among those mostly recalled by the executives of the sector, many of which already have projects underway with resources from the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC, in Portuguese). The Simefre, entity that represents the manufacturers of railway and highway material and equipment, calculates that, considering only the projects of expansion of subways and urban trains currently in progress, there is nearly R$ 21 billion (US$ 11.7 billion) in investments. In case other promises become true, it is expected the inflow of another R$ 39.8 billion (US$ 22 billion).