FOLLOWING several years of struggle, Brazil’s difficult economic situation finally appears to be coming to a head, bringing much-needed relief to the country’s embattled railway industry. After all, demand for freight wagons and locomotives is linked to the performance of the rail freight business. But with the recovery now underway, and with the renewal of freight concessions starting, more money is likely to be available to invest in new equipment.

FIVE of Brazil’s rail freight concessions are set to be renewed in 2018, and this is expected to generate investments of Reais 25bn ($US 7.6bn) in railway infrastructure up to 2023, according to Mr Fernando Paes, executive director of the National Association of Railway Carriers (ANTF).