Achieving Maturity

Only on the second half of the 19th century were the economics and the social conditions created which were to permit the emergence of railways in Brazil. the need to effect the rapid transportation of coffee and other agricultural products from the Paraíba Valley to the Rio de Janeiro ports and domestic market made it mandatory to build railways. Starting in 1850, Brazil began great strides to wards modern life. During this period, 52 industries, 14 banks, 3 savings and loan institution, 20 steamship companies, 23 insurance companies, 4 colonization agencies, 8 mining firms and last but not least The Railways, were founded. In 1860, Rio de Janeiro began to show the symptoms of a concentrated population of 400,000 inhabitants compared with 200,000 in 1840. The spirit of commercial enterprise which formerly existed only in the slave traffic, began to make itself felt. Mauá, Ottoni, Rebouças and Tavares Bastos, preached everywhere the organization of Railway Companies. haven won the battle against every type of defeatist, ill-will and indifference, they finally saw the materialization of their long awaited dream - the arrival of railway tracks on the Brazilian soil, one of the initials milestones of a surge of development in Brazil. 

The First Concessions

Until the railways arrived, transportation of merchandise was an arduous procedure, by donkey on beaten-earth paths or barges which plied the Iguaçu and the Inhomirim rivers. By 1835 the Ports of Parity and Angra dos Reis exported about 100,000 sacks of coffees and other products arrived in the Santos port. When the slaves were emancipated, the great amounts of capital which until then were employed in the importation of the African slaves began to be invested in other sectors. At the same time the imperial government facilitated the obtaining of credit and this led to great commercial activity. The first attempt to built a railway in Brazil, occurred during Antônio Feijó government in 1835. The concession was offered to one or more companies, which might be willing to construct a railway from Rio de Janeiro in the direction of Minas Gerais, Bahia and Rio Grande do Sul States. Authorization was granted in the same year to Viúva Aguiar & Filhos for the construction of a railway between Santos and São Paulo to an English design. None of the above initiatives got under way due to lack of resources, among other reasons. It was only in 1854, nineteen years later, that the pioneer railway come into being - The Estrada de Ferro Mauá, built by English engineers who were in Brazil on the accounts of Mauá designs of Ponta de Areia workshops in Niterói and those of the Gas Supply Co. (Companhia de Abastecimento de Gás).

Materialization of an Idea

The railway initiative began to gain substance in Brazil when Irineu Evangelista de Souza (1813-1889). Baron of Mauá, received the imperial government's for the construction and operation of a railway between Estrela Beach at the end of Guanabara bay and Fragoso, near the foothills of Petrópolis. It was not a railway network such as the D. Pedro II railway which was inaugurated later, but it constituted the most important catalyst for subsequent enterprises. Until the 14.5 km was built, any travelers to Petrópolis were obliged to go by way of Estrela port. The neighborhood was served by a fleet of steam-boats which transported both passengers and freight. When Mauá railway was inaugurated, the company became. "Imperial Steam Navigation and Petrópolis Railway Company" Soon afterward, upon D. Pedro II initiative, it adopted it's builders name as a gesture of homage to him.

The First Brazilians Railroads

	Name	Year	From - To	Ext.	State
	Imperial Companhia de Navegação e Vapor e Estrada de Ferro Petrópolis. (E.F. Mauá)	1854	From Praia da Estrela to Fragoso	14,5	Rio de Janeiro
	Recife and S. Francisco Railway Company	1858	From Cinco Pontas to Cabo	31,5	Pernambuco
	Companhia Estrada de Ferro D. Pedro II (Central do Brasil)	1858	From Corte to Queimados	48,2	Rio de Janeiro
	Bahia and S. Francisco Railway Company Limited (E.F. Bahia ao S. Francisco)	1860	From Calçada to Paripe	14,0	Bahia
	São Paulo Railway Company Limited (EF Santos-Jundiaí)	1867	From Santos to Jundiaí	139	São Paulo
	Estrada de Ferro Baturité (Rede de Viação Cearense)	1873	From fortaleza to Porongaba	9,1	Ceará
	Companhia Brasileira Ltda, Estrada de Ferro Porto Alegre a Novo Hamburgo (Viação Férrea Rio Grande do Sul)	1874	From Porto Alegre to São Leopoldo	33,7	Rio Grande do Sul
	Companhia Estrada de Ferro d'Oeste (E.F. Oeste de Minas)	1881	From Sítio to Barroso	49	Minas Gerais
	Compagnie Générale de Chemins de Fer Brésiliens (E.F. Paranaguá-Curitiba)	1885	From Paranaguá to Morretes	40,9	Paraná

Click here for a brief history of the first Steam Locomotives

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