Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
7 min of reading 
0 comments 
A Major Railway Project Advances in Mato Grosso and Promises to Transform Agricultural Flow, Integrate Producing Regions, and Alter National Logistics by Connecting Strategic Areas to the Country’s Main Ports.
The largest railway project currently underway in the country is advancing through the interior of Mato Grosso and redrawing the logistics map of agribusiness.
The Mato Grosso State Railway, also named the Senator Vicente Emílio Vuolo Railway, will have 743 kilometers of extension, an estimated investment of up to US$ 15 billion, 100% private, and is expected to be fully operational by 2030.
Constructed by Rumo Logística, the line will connect Rondonópolis to the region of Lucas do Rio Verde, connecting to the existing network towards the Port of Santos (SP) and forming a new corridor for exporting soy and corn.
-
In A European City, The Country’s Largest Railway Junction Was Modernized Without Closing Its Doors, Kept Trains Running During Years Of Construction, Now Serves Up To 60,000 Passengers Per Day, And Installed Solar Panels That Generate About 30% Of Its Energy
-
Famous Brazilian Railway May Become a Parking Lot
-
The Country of “Punctual As a Train” Admits It Has Lost Control: High-Speed Trains Delay, Stop, Disappear from the Map and Turn 6-Hour Trips into 10, While Deutsche Bahn Promises Restructuring in 2026 But Faces 19th Century Infrastructure, Staff Shortages and Sections Closed for Months
-
With an Investment of R$ 700 Million in One of the Country’s Main Rail Networks, VLI Reinforces Infrastructure, Receives 8 New Locomotives, and Expands the Corridor Connecting 7 States, Boosting Jobs and the Transportation of Grains, Ore, and Oil Products to the Port of Santos
Project Progress and Technical Details
In the construction sites spread throughout the interior of Mato Grosso, steel rails are piled up waiting for assembly.
Next to them, specific factories produce concrete sleepers weighing around 400 kilograms, which will serve as the foundation to support locomotives and freight cars.
Each train set can reach 8 thousand tons, requiring assembly with millimeter precision and strict leveling and welding control.
The atmosphere of a major project is evident even in the conversations among the workers.
One of them, newly arrived from São Luís (MA) to work in Rondonópolis, comments while shielding himself from the strong sun: “You guys aren’t used to this heat, are you?”.
He then summarizes the environment in the accommodations and work fronts: “There are people from all over Brazil here.”
The workforce already includes around 5 thousand workers in the first phase, between Rondonópolis and Campo Verde, with projections to reach 145 thousand direct and indirect jobs throughout the entire implementation cycle.
Professionals come from various states and join local teams in earthworks, rail assembly, sleeper factory operations, safety supervision, and logistical support.
Strategic Route and Agricultural Connection
The railway’s route was designed to follow the expansion of the agricultural frontier in Mato Grosso.
The line departs from Rondonópolis, already a major railway junction, and will proceed in two main branches: one towards Cuiabá and the other towards Nova Mutum and Lucas do Rio Verde, in the northern part of the state.
In total, the railway will cross 16 municipalities, with planned intermediate terminals to concentrate agricultural loads and inputs.
In the first stage, the works focus on 211 kilometers between Rondonópolis and Campo Verde.
Of this initial stretch, 160 kilometers are expected to enter operation as early as 2026, anticipating some logistical gains before the complete line to Lucas do Rio Verde is finished.
Along the 743 kilometers, the project envisions 22 bridges, 21 viaducts, and about 2 kilometers of tunnels, in addition to large volumes of earthmoving to overcome elevation changes in a cerrado area.
Regulatory Model and Private Investment
The railway is the first in the country authorized directly by a state government after the new railway law was approved in 2022.
Instead of the traditional federal concession model, in which the infrastructure reverts to the public administration at the end of the contract, the line belongs to Rumo, which received authorization to exploit the asset for one hundred years.
As a result, Mato Grosso needed to establish its own regulatory framework to monitor tariffs, safety standards, environmental issues, and the interface with the municipalities crossed by the tracks.
The projected investment, between US$ 12 billion and US$ 15 billion, will be entirely private.
The railway will be integrated into the existing network operated by the company, which manages 13,500 kilometers of tracks, with more than a thousand locomotives and tens of thousands of wagons in different regions of the country.
This integration is considered crucial to ensure that the new line is not an isolated segment, but part of a continuous corridor that starts in the farms of Mato Grosso and ends at the docking berths of the Port of Santos.
Impact on Freight and Harvest Flow
Mato Grosso accounts for about 40% of the 150 million tons of grains exported by Brazil in 2024, according to recent surveys cited by the state government.
Production is increasingly concentrated in the northern expansion areas of the state, while much of the transportation infrastructure still relies on highways converging to the south.
The railway is born precisely to shorten this journey and reduce dependence on long stretches of highway to Rondonópolis.
Today, in many cases, trucks travel hundreds of kilometers on roads like BR-163 before reaching the existing railway terminal, where the cargo finally continues by train to São Paulo.
With the new line, the wagons will go closer to the origin of the harvest, allowing the truck segment to be restricted to shorter distances between the farms and the intermediate terminals.
Studies on the railway modal in grain transport indicate that the combination of trains in long dedicated corridors can reduce freight costs by up to 30% compared to exclusively road routes.
Meanwhile, other projects targeting the so-called Northern Arc are still under discussion, such as the railway known as Ferrogrão (EF-170), planned to link the Sinop (MT) region to Miritituba, in Pará.
Studies and technical reports mention the possibility of future connection between this corridor and the railway that will reach Lucas do Rio Verde, which would open an additional alternative for northern flow.
However, Ferrogrão still faces environmental and legal challenges and is currently not part of the direct scope of the ongoing state project in Mato Grosso.
Trucks Off the Highways and Emission Reduction
In addition to cost reduction, the project is presented as an important step in an attempt to take trucks off the highways and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Each freight train set with dozens of wagons can replace hundreds of heavy vehicles on long journeys.
In evaluations of the railway modal, studies indicate that trains emit up to 70% less CO₂ per ton-kilometer than trucks.
Recent data indicate that Brazilian railways transported more than 540 million tons in 2024.
The share of the railway modal in long-distance movement is already approaching one quarter of the total, but remains below the estimated potential.
Changes in Cities Along the Tracks
In the municipalities crossed by the future railway, impacts are already visible.
In Rondonópolis, where the operational base is located, Rumo’s terminal has the capacity to handle about 22 million tons per year and receives an average of 1,600 trucks per day.
The expansion of the tracks to the north brings this structure closer to the new grain frontier and is expected to redistribute cargo flow across more shipping points.
Small and medium cities have started to experience increased demand for housing, restaurants, automotive services, commerce, and rental of properties.
In some sections, the intermediate terminals in development, such as the one planned in Dom Aquino, are expected to consolidate new local logistics hubs.
Municipal revenue is likely to grow with ISS, circulation of goods, and the generation of permanent jobs linked to railway operations.
In the construction site, the scale of the project impresses even those who have previously worked on large projects.
The safety chief, who knows the region well, summarizes the feeling of those observing the tracks advancing through the soybean and corn fields: “It’s a giant project. Anyone who sees this up close knows how big it is.”
Engineering, Licensing, and Delivery Pace
The advancement of the railway depends on solutions to a series of technical and institutional challenges.
The project crosses areas of cerrado, watercourses, and regions of intensive agricultural production, which requires reinforcement in drainage, slope containment, and special structures.
The schedule includes interventions in 16 municipalities, with targeted expropriations, adaptation of rural accesses, and construction of level and grade-separated crossings.
In environmental matters, the licenses need to reconcile the route with sensitive areas and protection regulations.
Simultaneously, the government of Mato Grosso and the concessionaire monitor compliance with conditions and the execution of mitigation programs.
Maintaining the investment within the range of up to US$ 15 billion and delivering all lots by 2030 is considered a relevant test for both the company’s execution capacity and the state authorization model.
The strategy of Rumo and the state government is to put sections into commercial operation as they are completed, starting with the axis between Rondonópolis and Campo Verde.
The goal is that, by the end of the decade, the entire Mato Grosso State Railway is integrated into the existing network and functions as a continuous corridor between the agricultural areas of the Midwest and the ports of the Southeast.
Seja o primeiro a reagir!