BRAZIL’s National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) is to provide Reais 686m ($US 134.2m) to finance the installation of Positive Train Control (PTC) by freight concessionaire Rumo Logística on its network in the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso.
As well as safety benefits including automatic train protection (ATP) and the ability to determine the location, direction and speed of trains across the network, the installation of PTC 2.0 is expected to increase the productivity of Rumo freight operations.
The average transit time from Rondonópolis in Mato Grosso to the port of Santos in São Paulo is expected to be shortened by 8h 36min. An associated 2% reduction in fuel consumption will have a direct impact on reducing CO2 emissions.
Productivity gains should also help to reduce transport costs, which according to BNDES currently represent an estimated 11% of Brazil’s GDP.
BNDES will be providing Reais 434m or 80% of the funding over the first two years of the investment programme, comprising Reais 233m for the PTC project and Reais 201m in grant payments.
Securities will be issued by BNDES in the form of debentures to raise the necessary funding. The remaining Reais 252m will be provided from 2024 as Finem innovation financing.
Rumo expects that its PTC installation programme will create 122 new posts, mainly in engineering, IT and operating roles. A further 87 employees at project contractors will also be directly involved.
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