There were more than four years of delay and at least R$ 430 million spent to correct design errors, but finally the North-South Railway will be able to put another stretch of its tracks into operation.
In the next few days, according to the State, the 855 kilometers of the railroad between the cities of Anápolis (GO) and Palmas (TO) will support its first commercial cargo transport. Under contract with the state-owned Valec, owner of Norte-Sul, the logistics company VLI will use the new stretch to transport 18 new locomotives acquired by the logistics company.
The machines, which were manufactured in Sete Lagoas (MG) by Caterpillar, will travel on top of trucks to Anápolis. From there, they will run on the North-South rails to Palmas, to then access the 720 km stretch of the railroad where VLI already operates, between Palmas and Açailândia, in Maranhão. The destination is the city of Imperatriz (MA), where the locomotives will receive on-board equipment and will be 100% prepared for use. The information was confirmed by Valec's management and by VLI.
Pilot. For Valec, the first Norte-Sul contract will be a “pilot” of the new model for offering rail services, the so-called “open access”, whereby the state-owned company will sell the railroad's cargo capacity to several companies interested in using the tracks. , instead of transferring it to a single company through public concession, as has been done until now. From this pilot, the state-owned company wants to arrive at a contractual model to relate with the future independent railway operators (OFI) that will run on Norte-Sul rails.
By means of a note, VLI informed that it has already expressed its interest in qualifying as an independent operator in the new section of the railroad and that “it has been maintaining negotiations with Valec for the purchase of future capacity that will make the transport of other cargo in the South Section feasible ( Anápolis – Palmas), following the model established by the new regulatory framework for the sector”.
As revealed by the State last month, two companies specializing in cargo transport – Brado Logística, from Santos (SP), and Tora Transportes, from Contagem (MG) – submitted applications for authorization to the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) to operate on the railroad.
In the case of VLI, the arrival of 18 locomotives practically doubles the company's capacity over North-South. Today the company has 19 machines in operation. The expansion of capacity, according to the company, aims to expand the transport of cargo – grains, fuels, pig iron and cellulose – in the so-called “Central-North Corridor”, which connects Palmas to the Port of Itaqui, on the coast of Maranhão, 1,6 km away.
VLI's performance on the new section between Anápolis and Palmas can be achieved through a partnership with Granol, a company that has just completed the installation of a granary in Anápolis, a structure used to transport grain from the warehouses to the wagons. Asked about the matter, VLI informed that “it still does not have any specific contract for the transport of grains in the South Section”.
Source: State of S. Paulo
