Brazilian city Campinas hires firms for railway project

Campinas, one of the largest cities in Brazil’s São Paulo state, has hired firms to carry out studies to build an 18km passenger rail link to Viracopos airport. 

The companies selected were BYD do Brasil, Idestra, and a consortium formed by local infrastructure firms TS Infraestrutura e Engenharia, Aerom Sistemas de Transportes, FBS Construção Civil e Pavimentação and JOFEGE.

The technical studies will indicate whether the most viable model will be a public-private partnership or a concession, a spokesperson for Campinas city hall told BNamericas.

The firms will have 90 days to present the results regarding all technical, operational, economic-financial and legal modeling issues. A commission will then decide which is the best project and prepare a tender notice. 

The plan to build the railway began advancing after Campinas recently received an expression of interest from Chinese electric vehicle and battery company BYD.

The firm proposed carrying out technical studies to build its SkyShuttle system on the 18km stretch, a 100% electric rubber wheel vehicle running along an elevated track with an automated driving system.

The system is also being proposed by BYD for a stretch connecting the cities of Serra and Vitória in Espírito Santo state.

SkyShuttle reduces the impact of greenhouse gases and particulate matter emissions, and also the use of fossil fuels, according to BYD.

CRISIS AND OPPORTUNITIES 

The Brazilian rail transport sector finds itself facing both financial woes and growth opportunities. 

While the COVID-19 pandemic drastically reduced the number of passengers in the urban transport segment, putting concessionaires into financial difficulties, new railway projects are being designed due to the country’s large deficit in public transport capacity.

On Friday, various associations representing companies in the urban transport sector will attend a public hearing in congress to discuss the possibility of new federal government measures to support concessionaires. Other potential support measures will also be discussed, a spokesperson for passenger railway transport association ANPTrilhos told BNamericas.

The situation became very difficult in March for these firms when congress confirmed a veto on a 4bn-real (US$795mn) government bailout package for subway, rail and bus operators.

Earlier this month, Rio de Janeiro’s commuter rail operator, SuperVia, which is controlled by a consortium led by Japan’s Mitsui, filed a request for bankruptcy protection amid a sharp drop in passenger numbers due to the pandemic.