Brazil

Country Details

See Wikipedia

National Railway System

UIC code

alpha BR

National Railway Operator

There is no national railway operator.

Other Operators

Only one company runs long distance passenger services - a mining company named Vale, which operates two lines:

• Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas (EFVM) between Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, and Cariacica in the port of Vitória, in Espírito Santo state. There is also a service on the branch line between Itabira and D Drumond (Nova Era).
• Estrada de Ferro Carajás (EFC) between Parauapebas, in the state of Pará, and the port of São Luís, in Maranhão state.

São Paulo Metropolitan Services are operated by Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM) [English - São Paulo Metropolitan Trains Company].

Rio de Janeiro area services are operated by SuperVia

Timetable

• Online: Vale Passenger Train
  

Unofficial timetable information is also available at Fahrplancenter. Note that this may be out of date.

• Printed: summary timetables are available in some editions of the European Rail Timetable.

Some information is available at the Man in Seat 61.

São Paulo operator CPTM has PDF pages with service intervals for each line at its website.

Web-based Maps

A basic interactive map of Brazil railways

An interactive map of the São Paulo Metropolitan Services is at the CPTM site.

Interactive maps of metros are at Metro Line Map.

A map of the Estrada de Ferro Vitória a Minas S.A. (EFVM) is here

A schematic map of the SuperVia urban system in Rio de Janeiro can be found here

Security

The larger Brazilian cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have extensive slum areas, referred to as Favelas. The UK Foreign Office website has this to say about Favelas:
"The security situation in many favelas is unpredictable and can be dangerous. Tourists have been shot after accidentally entering favelas."
In Rio de Janeiro the SuperVia line from Saracuruna to Vila Inhomirim is regarded as extremely unsafe, with a high risk of robbery or injury.

Infrastructure

Gauges

• 1,000 mm (3 feet 3+3⁄8 inches) metre
• 1,600 mm (5 feet 3 inches) Irish gauge

About 400 km of dual 1,000 mm/1,600 mmm lines exist.

• 1,435 mm (4 feet 8½ inches) Standard; used on line 5 of the São Paulo Metro and the Estrada de Ferro do Amapá (EPC).

Electrification

3,000 V DC

Rule of the road

Left with exceptions.

Tourist Lines

Minas Gerais

• The Trem da Serra da Mantiqueira runs 10 km between Passa Quatro and the station of Coronel Fulgêncio.
• The Trem das Águas is a tourist train from São Lourenço station to Soledade de Minas (10 km each way)
• The Trem de Guararema runs 7km from Guararema Central Station to the Luís Carlos station.
• The Viação Férrea Campinas Jaguariúna runs 25km from Anhumas to Jaguariúna.

Paraná

• The Trem da Serra do Mar (also called the Serra Verde Express)] runs from Curitiba to Morretes
• The Trem Caiçara runs from Antonina to Morretes

Rio de Janeiro

• Bonde de Santa Teresa (Santa Teresa vintage tramway) in Rio de Janerio. Official Site in Portuguese.

São Paulo

• The Trem dos Imigrantes tourist train in São Paulo runs from Immigrant Memorial to Rua da Mooca and, on the return, to the entrance of Estação do Brás, a total of 3km.
• The Paranapiacaba tourist train runs most weekends from São Paolo Luz station to Paranapiacaba, beyond the metro line 10 terminus at Rio Grande de Serra.
• The Trem do Vale Europeu runs from Apiúna to the Salto Pilão Hydroelectric Plant
• The Trem da Serra do Mar runs 45km from Rio Negrinho to Rio Vermelho
• The Trem das Termas runs 25km from Piratuba to Marcelino Ramos.

Metros

Metro systems exist in Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo and Teresina.

Trams/LRT-Systems

Light rail systems exists in:

• Rio de Janerio (VLT Carioca). A schematic of the network is here [1]
• Santos.

Recent and Future Changes

Recent Changes

São Paulo suburban rail operator CPTM extended its Expresso Aeroporto service from Luz to Palmeiras-Barra Funda from 1 September 2023.

Future Changes

A National Railway Plan, includes the introduction of regional passenger services over seven short or medium-distance routes. These were unconfirmed at June 2024, but money for passenger services is allocated.

• Brasília, Distrito Federal, to Luziânia in Goiás state, about 60 km;
• Maringá to Londrina in Paraná state, about 100 km;
• Pelotas to Rio Grande in Rio Grande do Sul state, about 60 km;
• Salvador to Feira de Santana in Bahia state, about 110 km;
• Fortaleza to Sobral in Ceará state, about 200 km;
• São Luís to Itapecuru Mirim in Maranhão state, about 115 km;
• Duque de Caxias, north of Rio de Janeiro, to Itaboraí and Niteroi in Rio de Janeiro state (a route round Guanabara Bay).

Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services

None known.