São Paulo – The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) announced yesterday (9th) that it has approved the financing of 2.15 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 1.08 billion) to América Latina Logística (ALL), a railway grid operator in Brazil, for the expansion of the company’s transport capacity.
According to information disclosed by the bank, the funds should be invested from 2009 to 2012 to improve the existing lines, purchase railway cars, locomotives and equipment and also for the installation of information technology and safety in the networks administered by the organisation.
The plan forecasts the purchase of 143 locomotives and the redoing of another 88, as well as the acquisition and recovery and of over 11,000 railway cars. ALL, according to the BNDES, currently has 1,100 locomotives, 31,000 railway cars and also operates a fleet of 1,000 lorries that it owns or leases.
The project also includes the construction of terminals and areas for cargo movement and the duplication of lines. According to the BNDES, the expansion plan should help reduce transportation cost, the number of accidents in the network and the emission of pollutants.
ALL operates railway grids in São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Argentina, totalling 21,000 kilometres of railway lines.
*Translated by Mark Ament
