Brasília, 4/30/2004 (Agência Brasil) - More than US$ 2.35 billion (R$ 7 billion) has been earmarked by the railroad sector for investments over the next five years. The money is to be spent on infrastructure, development of new technologies, purchases of wagons and locomotives and maintenance. The announcement was made by the president of the railroad association (Associação Nacional dos Transportadores Ferroviários) (ANTF), Guilherme Laager, in a speech at a seminar commemorating the 150th anniversary of the introduction of railroads in Brazil by the Baron of Mauá.

Minister of Transportation, Alfredo Nascimento, also present at the seminar, declared that the federal government was interested in developing the railroad sector, saying that the emphasis on highway construction had been a historical mistake in Brazil. Nascimento said the way to go about building railroads was in a partnership joining the private railroad owners and the government. Until recently, railroads were state-run in Brazil.

Compared to other countries, the Brazilian railroad system has a small role in the economy. They carry only 24% of the country's cargo on a total of 30,000 kilometers of rails. In Russia, 80% of nation's cargo goes by rail, in Canada it is 46%, in the United States and Australia it is 43%.

Translator: Allen Bennett