Regional Railways: Brazil needs to get back on track for development.

José Roberto Barbosa is the CEO of Petrocity and president of the Brazilian Association of Authorized Railways.

Brazil is a nation of continental dimensions that still operates with a logistical

concentrated, expensive, and uneven. While large corridors channel production to

exports, vast inland regions remain on the margins of the structuring flows of

national economy. The result is well known: high logistics costs, competitiveness

limited, regional concentration of income and opportunities that do not reach those who are most fortunate.

it needs.

It's time to confront this distortion with a strategic vision, and that vision involves railways.

regional.

Regional railways are not just tracks connecting cities. They are instruments of

National integration. These are infrastructures that organize the territory, internalize the economy, and...

It transforms productive regions into dynamic growth hubs. They represent the

transition from a linear rail system, focused on few axes, to a true grid.

An integrated rail system, capable of distributing opportunities equitably across the country.

National integration is not achieved solely through highways or airports. It is achieved through a network.

structured, capable of connecting production, consumption, industry, agriculture and services in

all regions. When a regional railway connects the interior to the national system, it

It reduces economic distances, shortens logistics chains, and increases the competitiveness of...

local businesses.

The impact is direct:

lower transportation costs, greater operational predictability, increased access to

markets and attracting new investments.

But there is a crucial point that needs to be highlighted: Brazil already possesses the legal instrument.

to enable this transformation. Law No. 14.273/2021 established the railway regime.

authorized, creating the shortest, most modern and efficient way to expand the network.

national railway.

This model reduces bureaucracy, accelerates investments, and expands sector participation.

private and allows for the deployment of regional railways with greater flexibility and lower costs.

dependence on the public budget. It's not about creating a new policy, it's about...

to fully implement a mechanism that is already provided for by law.

The authorized railways are, today, the link between regional potential and national integration.

They are the legal instrument that transforms planning into action, intention into a plan, and

Project under development.

But the effect is not just economic. It's social.

By improving infrastructure, the attractiveness of cities increases. Municipalities integrated into the railway system offer better conditions for the installation of industries, distribution centers, warehouses, and services. This generates direct jobs in railway operations, indirect jobs in the logistics chain, and induced jobs in commerce, construction, and urban services.

Regional railways transform peripheral cities into strategic cities, they transform

Isolation becomes an opportunity and transforms potential into real production.

By decentralizing the economy, the country reduces regional inequalities and strengthens the market.

Internally, it expands its productive base. Development ceases to be concentrated and becomes...

to be distributed.

It is important to understand that infrastructure is not an expense, it is a structural investment, and, in

In the case of regional railways made viable by the authorized model, it is an investment with

Return multiplier and execution speed.

Brazil has demonstrated throughout its history that it grows when it organizes its

infrastructure. Today, faced with the challenge of increasing competitiveness, generating employment and

To promote sustainable growth, regional railways, made possible by the regime of

Authorizations emerge as the concrete and legally available solution for a new...

national development cycle.

The country needs not only to grow, it needs to grow with territorial balance.

And this begins by placing the interior at the center of the economic strategy, using the

A legal instrument that already exists to transform projects into reality.

Regional railways, structured under a licensing system, are more than just tracks.

They are the shortest path to a more integrated, competitive, and socially just Brazil.

The future of Brazilian development depends on them.

February 19, 2026.

José Roberto Barbosa da Silva.