BAHIA Mining (Bamin) has won the concession for the first phase of Brazil’s West-East Integration Railway (Fiol) , with a planned investment of Reais 3.3bn ($US 580.7m), including Reais 1.6bn to complete the project.

The 537km Fiol 1 will run between Caetité and Ilhéus, in the state of Bahia. Bamin was the only bidder and the line is due to open in 2025. The railway is expected to carry 18 million tonnes annually when it opens, increasing to more than 50 million tonnes by 2035.

Fiol 1 will carry a range of products including iron-ore, processed foods, cement, fuels, soybeans, soybean meal, manufactured products, petrochemicals and other minerals. Operation will initially be provided with 16 locomotives and 1400 wagons, including at least 1100 iron-ore wagons, with this expected to increase to 34 locomotives and 2600 wagons within 10 years.

The concession was tendered as part of Brazil’s Infra week, during which 28 infrastructure concessions are being auctioned. The auction takes the total contracted investment in the Brazilian rail network through concessions to Reais 31bn, with the Brazilian government aiming to increase rail’s share of the freight market from 20% to 35% by 2035.

The next goals for Brazil’s concession programme include the completion of Fiol phase 2 and planning for phase 3, as well as the construction of the Central-West Integration Railway (Fico) .

The 485km Fiol 2 is under construction between Caetité and Barreiras, Bahia, with more than 1000 staff working on the project supported by the military. Vale is supplying rail for the project as part of a grant payment to the federal government.

“The project is moving at an accelerated pace, with a lot of earth moving, a lot of gravel being produced, sleepers being manufactured, and it will gain momentum from now on,” says minister of infrastructure, Mr Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas.

The 505km Fiol 3 between Barreiras, Bahia, and Figueirópolis, Tocantins, which will connect with the North-South Railway, is expected to be funded following the expected renewal of the concession with the Mid-Atlantic Railroad, which is currently being examined.

Construction of the first 40km of the Fico line between Água Boa, Mato Grosso, and Mara Rosa, Goiás, which will also connect with the North-South Railway, is expected to begin in May. Design of Fico phase 2 between Água Boa and Lucas do Rio Verde is underway.

The second and third stages of the Fiol could be auctioned alongside the Fico between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.

“We have already carried out some economic feasibility tests and simulated some scenarios, with the support of the World Bank, and the result was very revealing,” de Freitas says. “It shows that we are going in the right direction, that we can have a very interesting auction joining the Fico segment with the two stretches of Fiol.”

Another priority is the 900km Ferrogrão concession between Sinop, Mato Grosso, and the Port of Miritituba, Pará.