Skip to main content

Europe and Brazil implement open-access railway concession model

Brazil's ground transport agency ANTT and the European Railway Agency (ERA) have signed a memorandum of understanding and are working together to implement ANTT’s open-access railway concession model. The agreement calls for cooperation between regulators and for issues relating to technical requirements and standards to be addressed. Previously, Brazil's railway concessions included both the building and operating of railroads in one contract. Open-access, however, separates the transportation of car
September 30, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Brazil's ground transport agency ANTT and the European Railway Agency (ERA) have signed a memorandum of understanding and are working together to implement ANTT’s open-access railway concession model.

The agreement calls for cooperation between regulators and for issues relating to technical requirements and standards to be addressed.

Previously, Brazil's railway concessions included both the building and operating of railroads in one contract. Open-access, however, separates the transportation of cargo from the building and operating of lines. The new model is expected to open up more cargo handling opportunities, increase logistics efficiency, reduce freight costs, and improve Brazil's competitiveness.

While open-access is already widely adopted in Europe, ANTT launched its model in June, calling for independent railway operators to express their interest in freight transport along a stretch of the Norte-Sul railway built by federal rail company Valec.

The open access model, which is part of Brazil's overall strategy to improve its rail network, falls under the national logistics improvement plan, under which some US$40.9 billion has been earmarked to build and improve approximately 11,000 kilometres of railways.

Related Content

  • Fast and efficient barrier-free electronic toll collection
    May 21, 2012
    Canada’s 407 tolled highway allows non-stop travel and a fast and efficient way of paying for it. Ontario’s 407 ETR highway features one of the most advanced barrier-free and all- electronic toll collection systems in the world. The company that operates the road launched the latest phase of its strategy to provide end-to-end automation in summer 2011. A self-service website is now available, allowing users to view and pay charges online using technology supplied by the international market leaders in e-bil
  • Do satellites provide a heavenly view of tolling’s future?
    December 16, 2014
    Satellite-based tolling opens up new options for authorities and can be integrated with DSRC systems as David Crawford discovers. As the proud custodian of the European Union (EU)’s longest road network covered by a single (truck) charging scheme – and the only one to include all major roads - Slovakia has become the continent’s poster-nation for the virtues of GNSS/CN (Global Navigation Satellite System/Cellular Network)-based tolling. It is also proved to be a very fast implementer. Speaking at the 2014 I
  • Middle East Looks to road charging for congestion relief
    January 26, 2012
    On the eve of the Gulf Traffic show in Dubai, ITS Arab secretary general and Innova Consulting managing director Zeina Nazer reviews prospects for road user charging in the Middle East and North Africa
  • ACE report: private sector and user-pay for English roads
    May 16, 2018
    It’s one minute to midnight for funding England’s roads, according to a timely new report - and the clock’s big hand is pointing to some form of user-pay solution, reports David Arminas. Is there any way out of future user-pay funding for England’s highway infrastructure? The answer is a resounding ‘no’, according to the recently-published report Funding Roads for the Future. The 25-page document by the London-based Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) calls for a radical rethink about how to