Railways: country must produce more wagons and locomotives – 04/05/2024 – Sobre Trilhos

After having reduced the production of passenger cars in 2022 for the first time since 1997, the Brazilian railway industry partially recovered last year and is already planning to grow this year.

The forecasts are from Abifer (Brazilian Railway Industry Association), which estimates that 45 locomotives will be manufactured this year, which represents a growth of 45.16% compared to the 31 sold last year.

Cargo wagons are expected to grow 25.89% in the year, going from 1,271 manufactured in 2023 to 1,600. Passenger cars, in turn, are expected to maintain last year’s production this year – 291 units –, a number much higher than those recorded in previous years.

In 2020, there were 72, compared to 35 in 2021 and none the following year. Since the beginning of the historical series, in 1971, only in 1997 and in 2022 did national manufacturers not produce a single passenger car.

“Now we have exports to Taipei, Bucharest and Santiago. The passenger industry, which spent 10, 12 years without orders and without any industrial activity except in the maintenance areas, is once again playing a leading role. We will have for the next four years , starting this year, including around 250, 300 cars per year, which is a very satisfactory level”, stated the president of Abifer, Vicente Abate.

The record for passenger car production was achieved in 2016, with 473 units.

According to Abate, São Paulo metro lines such as 8 and 9 have recently placed orders with the national industry, and exports are underway, which helps explain the prospects for 2024.

According to the executive, among the projects are also the Guarulhos aeromobile, three lots of two cars each produced by Marcopolo Rail in Rio Grande do Sul and the train auction between São Paulo and Campinas, which should help the sector effectively think about growth in the medium term.

The first of the trains that will connect the CPTM (Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos) station to the departure and arrival terminals at Guarulhos airport arrived at the location on March 15th.

“We had serious difficulties. The railway industry experienced idleness of around 90%, even 100% in some cases, which begins to be reduced as these projects begin to take place.”

The installed capacity of the national industry currently, which was adjusted with the low demand in recent years, is 2,000 wagons, 150 locomotives and 600 passenger cars.

“The sector is strategic for the country, we understand that this tends to grow year by year from now on. We hope that with the projects put in place we will be able to have predictability and more regular production over a long period of time.”

Regarding the production of freight cars, the expectation is that the sector will gradually grow in the coming years, until it reaches an average of more than 3,000 wagons/year.

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