Ferrovia do Aço

In 1973 the Brazilian government annonced the construction of a ambitious electrified railroad network between the states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. This network - known as Ferrovia do Aço (The Steel Railroad) - would link Belo Horizonte directly to São Paulo and Barra Mansa cities. Its main objective was to ease the supply of iron ore to some Brazilian steelworks, namely Companhia Siderúrgica Paulista - COSIPA in Cubatão, São Paulo, and Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional - C.S.N., in Rio de Janeiro. This railroad would be built in a thousand days, so it was nicknamed as A Ferrovia dos 1000 Dias...

However, there was a major problem that was not properly considered by the Brazilian authorities: the region to be crossed by this railroad is very hilly; many tunnels and viaducts had to be built. Well, money suddenly ended in the middle of this journey and the rail portions already constructed were abandoned for several years. In the late eighties, some iron ore mining companies financed the construction of the Belo Horizonte-Barra Mansa line, with downgraded railroad standards. The electrification program was also supressed; lots of eletric material still are abandoned in the region...

After privatization, in 1997, this railroad was merged in the M.R.S. Logística network.