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The EF-118 railway, known as the Southeast Ring, plans for 246 kilometers of new railway corridor between São João da Barra, in Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Leopoldina, in Espírito Santo. Iphan has started requiring archaeological research along 500 meters on each side of the route, which means sweeping 7,332 hectares just in an initial stretch of 73 kilometers, an area equivalent to almost three times the island of Fernando de Noronha. Infra S.A. considers the requirement disproportionate, and the railway auction, initially scheduled for June, has been postponed to October 2026.
The first railway that the Lula government planned to auction could be stalled indefinitely due to a dispute over how many kilometers of land archaeologists need to scour before the work begins. The EF-118, which will connect the Port of Açu, in São João da Barra, Rio de Janeiro, to the Vitória-Minas Railway, in Espírito Santo, is a 246-kilometer corridor designed to transport cargo between the two states. The problem arose when Iphan included in the railway’s licensing the requirement for archaeological surveys along 500 meters on each side of the route, ten times more than the 30 to 50 meters usually required in such works.
Infra S.A., the state company responsible for the initial stage of the licensing, calculated that just in a 73-kilometer stretch between Anchieta and Presidente Kennedy, the research would involve 7,332 hectares, an area equivalent to almost three times Fernando de Noronha. The survey would require teams of archaeologists to traverse farms, rural areas, forested lands, and pastures, with the need to obtain authorization from hundreds of private owners. The Ministry of Transport sees in the determination a work of disproportionate magnitude that could compromise the railway’s viability.
What is the EF-118 railway and why it matters
The EF-118 plans the construction of 246 kilometers of new railway corridor between São João da Barra, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, and Santa Leopoldina, in Espírito Santo. The railway route starts from the Port of Açu, goes to the municipalities of Presidente Kennedy and Anchieta in Espírito Santo, and ends at the connection with the Vitória-Minas Railway.
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The railway is the first of eight concessions planned by the Lula government for the railway sector. The tender was scheduled for March 2026 and the auction for June, but the schedule has already slipped: the publication of the tender is now expected for mid-August, with the auction in October. The main delay is due to the analysis by the Federal Court of Accounts on the draft of the tender, but the archaeological dispute with Iphan adds an additional layer of uncertainty.
What Iphan requires and why Infra S.A. disagrees
The disagreement lies in defining how much area around the railway needs to be researched by archaeologists. Iphan, following a new normative instruction published in 2025, determined that the archaeological research should cover the Direct Influence Area, which in the case of this railway extends 500 meters on each side of the route. Infra S.A. argues that the field survey should focus on the Directly Affected Area by the construction, a strip of 30 to 50 meters that corresponds to the land where the physical intervention actually occurs.
The difference is enormous in terms of scale. Researching 500 meters on each side along 246 kilometers of railway would mean sweeping tens of thousands of hectares of land. Infra S.A. stated that this requirement “would imply a demand for time, human and financial resources of disproportionate magnitude” and proposed an alternative: to conduct the field survey in the construction area and study the influence zone through bibliographic bases, archaeological potential analysis, and historical contextualization.
The new normative instruction that changed the rules
The background of the dispute is a normative instruction from Iphan published in 2025 that significantly expanded the scope of archaeological research required in environmental licensing processes for large projects like the railway. Previously, the focus was concentrated on already known material heritage, previously identified sites, and areas directly affected by the works. The new norm expanded the analysis to indirect impacts, potential archaeological heritage, and a more comprehensive preventive evaluation.
Iphan stated to Folha de S.Paulo that the requirements “strictly follow the procedures and technical criteria provided for in the current legislation” and that the delimitation of the research area followed information presented by the entrepreneur himself in the licensing process. Infra S.A. acknowledged that it does not question the agency’s competence nor the importance of heritage protection, but argues that the new rule needs to be calibrated for large-scale linear projects like the railway.
The impasse that could stall Lula’s first railway concession
Iphan does not have veto power over the railway, but if it does not give consent to its area of responsibility, Ibama does not issue the environmental license. In practice, the archaeological requirement acts as an indirect blockade: without agreement, the license does not come out and the work does not advance, even if the concession auction can occur without the prior license.
The state-owned Infra S.A. is in negotiations with Iphan to define a licensing methodology that reconciles heritage protection with operational feasibility. The challenge is to find a middle ground that satisfies the new norm without making the railway unfeasible. Infra S.A. argued that the extensive survey would require obtaining authorization from hundreds of rural landowners, an external factor to the entrepreneur’s control that could delay the process for months or years.
What is at risk if the railway is delayed even further
EF-118 is not just a concession: it is the credibility test of the government’s railway program. If the first railway of the package cannot advance due to a dispute over the size of the archaeological survey, the following seven concessions will face the same precedent, and investors may lose confidence in the government’s ability to execute its schedule.
The transport sector is watching the situation with apprehension. The railway would connect the Port of Açu to the Espírito Santo railway network, creating an alternative route for cargo flow that today depends exclusively on congested highways. The impasse between heritage protection and infrastructure development is not new in Brazil, but the scale of Iphan’s requirement in this case drew attention for raising the bar to a level that Infra S.A. classifies as unprecedented and unfeasible.
Do you think the archaeological survey in an area equivalent to three times Fernando de Noronha is heritage protection or bureaucratic excess? Should the railway have priority, or is Iphan right to demand caution? Tell us in the comments.
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