Brazil Unveils EUR 28 Billion Rail Programme as MRS Orders 50 Wabtec Locomotives

Brazil's Ministry of Transport has presented 18 railway projects for 2027 carrying an estimated EUR 28 billion in investment, the largest single package announced across South America's rail sector in October 2026 reporting.

The programme spans eight concessions, nine public calls for private railway authorisations, and an ongoing offering of underutilised infrastructure and terminals. The first public call covers the 733 km Minas–Rio corridor and is scheduled for December 2026. All proposals remain subject to procurement and investment decisions, meaning the headline figure is a projection rather than committed spending.

What did MRS Logística order?

Separately, Brazilian freight operator MRS Logística signed an approximately EUR 230 million package on 23 September covering 50 Wabtec ES44ACi diesel-electric locomotives, spare parts and services. That works out at roughly EUR 4.6 million per locomotive including support costs. Deliveries run through June 2032, giving MRS a five-and-a-half-year fleet renewal horizon on its broad-gauge network serving São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.

The order is a firm commercial fact in a month otherwise dominated by plans still moving through procurement.

How is Argentina restructuring freight rail?

Argentina is preparing fresh tenders for the Ferroexpreso Pampeano and Ferrosur Roca freight networks, whose existing concessions have been temporarily extended into 2027 while the rebidding process advances.

The tenders follow the government's launch of a separate privatisation programme covering approximately 7,594 km of the Belgrano, San Martín and Urquiza networks. To put that scale in perspective, it is more than seven times the length of the Minas–Rio corridor Brazil is tendering first. The proposed 50-year concessions aim to attract private investment and introduce open-access freight operations, a structural shift for networks long managed under state umbrella arrangements.

No tender dates for the two Pampeano and Ferrosur Roca processes appear in the source material.

What will Colombia's EUR 180 million finance?

Development bank CAF approved financing of approximately EUR 180 million for the rehabilitation and operation of the 526 km La Dorada–Chiriguaná railway in Colombia.

The public-private partnership involves Ortiz Construcciones y Proyectos, Transferport and Colombian Natural Resources. Funding will support track rehabilitation, railway equipment and the restoration of freight services on the country's central railway corridor. Roughly EUR 342,000 per kilometre, the package positions the route for renewed cargo competition with road haulage.

Is Uruguay reconnecting its northern freight line?

Uruguay signed an agreement to rehabilitate the approximately 750 m railway bridge over the Río Negro at Paso de los Toros. The work will reconnect the Central Railway with the line towards Rivera near the Brazilian border.

The outcome matters for port logistics: freight traffic from northern Uruguay will regain a direct path to the Port of Montevideo. Rehabilitation is expected to take around 10 months, putting completion within roughly a year of the signing if the schedule holds.

Taken together, the October developments show a region moving on two tracks at once. Brazil and Argentina are assembling multi-year concession pipelines measured in the tens of billions of euros, while Colombia and Uruguay fund discrete physical works on specific corridors. The December 2026 call for the Minas–Rio corridor will provide the first test of whether Brazil's EUR 28 billion programme converts into signed contracts.