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Railways in Brazil: private authorizations of 25 to 99 years, public calls and concessions

Last verified: 2026-10-27 · Status: Stable

Since the 2021 Railways Law, investors can build and run railways in Brazil under a private law authorization requested directly from the federal rail regulator at any time, for 25 to 99 years, renewable, with price freedom. Public concessions remain for public regime lines, and the government can run public calls to place idle or unbuilt lines with private operators. Authorized railway assets do not revert to the State, which is the key difference from a concession.

Key facts

Minimum term of a railway authorization	25 yearsLei nº 14.273 art. 19 § 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Maximum term of a railway authorization (renewable)	99 yearsLei nº 14.273 art. 19 § 1, as of 2026-10-27 · in force
Years without traffic or missed targets that make a concession line idle and open to public call	2 yearsLei nº 14.273 art. 26 § 2, as of 2026-10-27 · in force

The rule

1. Railways are operated indirectly by private operators either in the private regime, under an authorization, or in the public regime, under a concession, each formalized in a contract. Private regime railways have price freedom. Granting one railway does not prevent granting others with the same origin and destination pairs or region. Competition authorities share with the rail regulator the power to repress anticompetitive conduct.Lei nº 14.273 (Railways Law), Arts. 7 and 8, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

2. The Union regulates and grants railways in the federal subsystem and sets safety rules nationwide; states, the Federal District and municipalities grant rail transport in their own transport systems.Lei nº 14.273, Art. 2 caput and § 1, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

3. An interested party may apply directly to the rail regulator at any time for an authorization to build and operate a new railway, yard or accessory facility, filing a draft adhesion contract, a technical memorial with intended financing sources, a georeferenced route, logistics and technical specifications, a schedule with a deadline to start operations, and tax clearance certificates. Once legal requirements are met, an authorization may be refused only for incompatibility with national rail policy or a relevant, justified technical or operational reason; locational conflicts must be solved by the applicant.Lei nº 14.273, Art. 25 §§ 1 and 4 to 6, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

4. The authorization contract has a fixed term proposed by the applicant or set in the public call, of 25 to 99 years, renewable for successive periods if the operator expresses interest and meets minimum safety, production and quality standards. Unless stated otherwise it covers both freight and passengers.Lei nº 14.273, Arts. 19 and 20, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

5. The Executive may at any time open a public call for authorizations on unbuilt railways, idle lines in networks under concession (no commercial traffic or missed performance targets for more than 2 years) and lines being returned or deactivated. A single proposal leads to the authorization; several proposals lead to a public selection in which the largest payment for the grant is one of the criteria. Idle stretches are carved out of the current concession in favor of the new authorization.Lei nº 14.273, Arts. 26 and 28, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

6. Assets of an authorized railway do not revert to the State when the authorization ends, except public assets sold, assigned or leased to the operator to build the line, and the operator gets no indemnity for improvements to them.Lei nº 14.273, Arts. 21 and 22, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

7. The authority may cancel an authorization for loss of conditions through negligence, incompetence or abandonment, and for missing the deadline to start rail operations set in the grant.Lei nº 14.273, Art. 31, 2021-12-23 official text · verified 2026-10-27

Feature	Authorization (private regime)	Concession (public regime)
How obtained	Request at any time, or public call	Public bidding
Term	25 to 99 years, renewable	Set in the concession contract
Prices	Free	Regulated under the contract
Assets at the end	Do not revert, except public assets assigned or leased	Per the concession contract
Termination for delay	Cancellation if operations do not start by the deadline	Per the concession contract

Authorization versus concession (Lei nº 14.273).

Worked example

A mining group wants a 400 km line from its mine to a private port terminal: it files an authorization request with the federal rail regulator with route, technical specifications, financing sources and a start of operations date, proposes a 60 year term inside the 25 to 99 year band, and keeps the assets when the authorization ends. If it misses the start date in the contract, the authorization can be cancelled (Lei nº 14.273 arts. 19, 22, 25 and 31).

Step by step

1. Define route, yards and links to ports and existing networks; check locational conflicts.
2. Prepare the adhesion contract draft, technical memorial, financing sources and schedule.
3. File with the federal rail regulator, or bid in a public call for idle or unbuilt lines.
4. Sign the authorization contract and start environmental licensing and rights of way.
5. Meet the start of operations deadline; request renewal before the term ends.

Common traps

Missing the operations start date is a ground for cancellation, so set a realistic schedule in the request.
An authorization does not give exclusivity; a competing line on the same corridor can be authorized.
Public assets leased or assigned to the operator do revert, and improvements to them are not indemnified.

Sources

Lei nº 14.273 (Railways Law), Congress normas.leg.br

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