Brazil's northeast region seeks to advance new projects in the passenger rail sector

The states of Brazil's Northeast are trying to correct historical social and economic imbalances and, in this context, are beginning to focus their efforts on urban mobility projects, which has generated new contracts and even potential privatizations.

With about a quarter of the Brazilian population, the region accounts for only 6.8% of the country's metro-rail passenger demand.

“The Brazilian Northeast has great potential for the passenger transport segment, but the challenge to unlock this potential involves developing new projects in the region,” Joubert Flores, chairman of the National Association of Passenger Transporters on Rails (ANPTrilhos), told BNamericas.

Between January and June of this year, the 21 metro-rail systems in operation in Brazil registered 1.264 billion passenger trips, compared to 1.259 billion in the same period in 2024, an increase of 0.4%, according to ANPTrilhos. Of the total, 1.146 billion trips were recorded in the Southeast, primarily in São Paulo. The Southeast region is home to approximately 42% of the country's population and accounts for 91% of rail transportation demand.

"An important aspect of discussing projects in the Northeast also involves the issue of tariffs: how much of the tariffs need to be subsidized by governments and how much of the projects need to be funded by the public sector. Each state in the region has different characteristics and requires different solutions, but state participation is essential, whether for investing, financing, or structuring projects," said Flores.

In an attempt to reduce the gap in relation to the Southeast, more initiatives are beginning to emerge in the Northeast, especially in the two most populous states in the region, Bahia and Pernambuco.

Bahia

The Bahia government this week selected the winning companies for the expansion of the Salvador subway, in a project valued at 1.1 billion reais (US$202 million).

The Expresso 2 de Julho consortium, formed by Áyla Construtora, OECI, Metrô Engenharia and MPE Engenharia, submitted a bid 25.8% below the maximum value estimated by the government, of up to 1.52bn reais.

The group beat the Line 1 Section 4 consortium, made up of Mendes Júnior Trading and Engineering, Powerchina International Group Limited of Brazil, Toniolo Busnello and Pampulha Engenharia, which submitted a bid of 1.06bn reais.

According to the state-run firm CTB, responsible for the technical evaluation, the Expresso 2 de Julho was selected despite its higher price, as it obtained the highest score: 96.00 points, compared to 73.85 points for Line 1 Section 4. The analysis took into account, in addition to the price, technical criteria.

"With this stage completed, the legal deadline for filing any appeals begins, in compliance with due process. Only after this stage is completed will the bidding object be approved and awarded," the CTB said.

The project envisages the construction of a 1.1km tunnel in section IV of Line 1 of the Salvador-Lauro de Freitas Metro System, which currently has 38km of tracks, two lines and 22 stations.

At the same time, the Bahia state government will hold a bidding process at the end of the month for the purchase of 10 new passenger trains, with an estimated investment of R$637 million. The bidding process will take place on September 30th, and the company with the lowest bid will win.

Each train will have a capacity for 1,250 passengers and will be incorporated into the fleet that serves subway lines 1 and 2.

The notice for the acquisition of trains can be consulted here.

In July, the government of Bahia authorized additional investments of 560 million reais for the construction of a light rail in Salvador.

Of this amount, 446mn reais will be allocated to the implementation of signaling, telecommunications, and train control systems. The remainder will be allocated to drainage work on one of the VLT sections.

The project, implemented by the Bahian state-owned company CTB, will feature 40 km of lines and 40 stations, serving approximately 100,000 passengers per day. This will require an estimated investment of 5bn reais.

Pernambuco

Separately, the federal government and the Pernambuco state government are finalizing the final details to move forward with a plan to privatize the subway in Recife, the state capital.

The state-run development bank BNDES is carrying out studies on the privatization model, which could generate investments of around 3.3bn reais, according to the bank's estimates.

Currently, the system in Recife transports around 182 thousand passengers per day.

Other states

BNamericas also selected the construction schedule for new lines, stations and network expansions in other states in the region:

Fortaleza - capital of Ceará state

Light rail – Airport branch of the northeast line (VLT Parangaba–Mucuripe): 2.4 km, 2 stations, expected delivery in 2025

Metro – Implementation of the East Line (phase 1, Centro–Papicu): 7.3 km, 4 stations, delivery scheduled for 2026 Teresina - capital of the state of Piauí

Light rail – Modernization of Line 1 (1st phase): delivery scheduled for 2026

Natal - capital of Rio Grande do Norte

Light rail – Implementation of the Purple Line: 4.1 km, 3 stations, delivery scheduled for 2025

(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)