BnamericasPublished: Wednesday, June 03, 2026
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The Brazilian government has launched a process to offer freight railway concession contracts, with a total amount of 53 billion (bn) reais (US$10.6bn).
The sector’s regulatory agency, ANTT, approved the opening of a public hearing regarding the concession contract for the railway system known as Malha Sul.
The railway system, which connects São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul, is structured into three corridors: the Paraná–Santa Catarina Corridor, the Rio Grande Corridor and the Mercosur Corridor, totaling 4.248 kilometers of railway network.
The government’s plan is to auction the three corridors separately, in lots, but in a single auction. Currently, the railway network is operated by Rumo Malha Sul S.A. and the contract expires in 2027.
"The total investment planned over the 30 years of the concession is 14.4 billion (bn) reais in CAPEX and 38.6 billion (bn) reais in OPEX", said ANTT in a statement.
"The Public Hearing creates an opportunity for society, economic agents, and other interested parties to contribute suggestions and input on the draft notice and concession contract. Information about the project will be available starting June 8, 2026, and the deadline for submitting contributions runs from June 15 to August 10, 2026", added the regulator, which did not indicate exact dates for the publication of the notice and the holding of the auction.
The initiative is part of a federal government plan to auction off a series of freight railways, which is expected to gain traction in the coming months.
In a recent interview with BNamericas, George Santoro, minister of transport, outlined the plans.
“Still this June we should launch the first railway concession tender within the government plan. The first process usually takes longer – just as it did with the highways – but once the first contract goes through all the procedures, the tendency is for the processes related to the next contracts to be much faster,” said Santoro.
The government is seeking to hold eight freight railway auctions this year. The first contract in this series to be auctioned is expected to be the Southeast Railway Ring, also known as EF-118, with an approximate length of 571km.
Southern Network
Each corridor of the Southern Network has a distinct profile, length, and function within the system.
The Paraná–Santa Catarina Corridor, with 1,502km, is the structuring axis of the project. It connects Maringá and Ourinhos to Apucarana, continuing on to the ports of Paranaguá and São Francisco do Sul. It also passes through Guarapuava, Rio Branco do Sul and Curitiba. It concentrates 78% of the cargo of the Southern Network, with a strong export vocation for grains, sugar, pulp and fertilizers.
The Rio Grande Corridor, with 880km, connects Cruz Alta to Cacequi, with a branch to Santiago, and continues to the Port of Rio Grande. It accounts for 16.6% of the traffic on the Southern Network, with a predominance of grains, fertilizers, and fuels.
The Mercosur Corridor, with 1.865km, provides the interstate connection from Iperó, in São Paulo, to Ponta Grossa. The corridor starts again in Mafra, passing through Passo Fundo, Porto Alegre, Santa Maria, Cacequi, and Uruguaiana, on the border with Argentina.
(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)
