The railway company Valec published in this Monday's (12/05) editions of the Official Gazette of the Union and in major newspapers, a statement in which it offers the market the transport capacity of the 855-kilometer stretch of the North-South Railway comprised between Porto Nacional, in the state of Tocantins, and Anápolis, in the state of Goiás, starting operations in May.
With this, the federal government takes the first step towards implementing the policy of free access to the Federal Railway System, in which Valec is responsible for promoting the railway sector through the purchase and sale of railway transport capacity.
This model, also called open access, which is already successfully applied in other countries (Australia and the European Union), promotes the breaking of the monopoly of current concessionaires and allows all companies that meet technical and operational requirements, established by law , have access to the railway infrastructure under objective, transparent and non-discriminatory conditions. Under the previous model, the loads transported on the railroads were marketed by the concessionaires themselves, who established their prices.
The government's expectation is to reduce the cost of rail freight and increase the participation of this modal in the Brazilian transport matrix. With this, a growing demand for transport services is projected until the total absorption of the capacity of the new rail network.
The public offer of the North-South Railroad's transport capacity will allow the redirection of cargo flows to ports in the North and Northeast regions, increasing logistical efficiency and, consequently, the country's competitiveness in the international market. Thus, the North-South Railroad stands out as the best long-distance transportation option for agricultural commodities, minerals and unitized products.
Read the full technical statement:
“Valec Engenharia, Construções e Ferrovias SA (Valec), based on its legal and regulatory competences and with the purpose of maintaining total transparency, communicates to the market its intention to provide the transport capacity of the railway section between the cities of Porto Nacional/TO (km 720) and Anápolis/GO (km 1.574), from EF – 151 – Ferrovia Norte Sul.
Valec thus makes the Public Offer of Capacity for the Norte Sul Railway widely known. Independent railway operators – OFI and multimodal transport operators – OTM may request participation in this process.
The sale of capacity, in this sense, will be carried out upon compliance with operational conditions established in due time, situations that constitute or may constitute monopoly, market dominance and restriction of free competition, conceptualized in the specific legislation, here adopted by Valec.
The exercise of the right to use capacity in the railway infrastructure will depend on the execution of a specific contract with Valec.
Operational and tariff rules, as well as capacity allocation procedures, will be specified later on Valec's website.
The period for submitting requests for capacity will begin on the day following the publication of this Notice of Public Offering, ending in 3 (three) months.
Capacity requests will be submitted in writing, indicating:
i. The authority they address; namely: Director of Operations;
ii. The name, qualification and address of the applicant;
iii. The flow (origin/destination), period (weekly/monthly) and quantity (train pairs);
iv. The date and signature of the applicant's legal representative.
The Communiqué, in full, will be available on Valec's website at www.valec.gov.br, after publication in the Federal Official Gazette. If formally requested, Valec will provide additional clarifications”.
Source: Portal Brasil
