{"id":215638,"date":"2025-05-12T21:43:27","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=62342"},"modified":"2025-05-12T21:43:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T11:43:27","slug":"china-warms-up-to-idea-of-building-railway-across-brazil-and-peru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=215638","title":{"rendered":"China warms up to idea of building railway across Brazil and Peru"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brazil and China are negotiating a new railway across South America. The line would link the Peruvian port of Chancay with rail infrastructure on the Brazilian east coast. China seems to be warming up to the idea.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>“They are very interested in helping Brazil, in criss-crossing the country with railways\u201d, Brazil\u2019s Planning Minister Simone Tebet said about China\u2019s attitude towards the 1,3 billion US dollar project. The railway would connect Peru\u2019s Chancay port, and run through nearly all of Brazil. Once past the state of Tocantins, it would link up with the so-called West-East Integration Railway.<\/p>\n

If China really goes ahead with funding and building the railway, it would be the country\u2019s largest investment in South America. And that is for good reason: Chancay lies on the shortest maritime route to China, cutting maritime trade routes to Brazil by 10,000 kilometres.<\/p>\n

Sparing the rainforest<\/h2>\n

Planning Minister Tebet said that her team met representatives of China Railway just over a month ago. The Chinese side initially wanted to build the line through the Amazon rainforest, but upon Brazilian insistence agreed to evade it.<\/p>\n

It will take a while for the railway to become a reality. “You could be talking about five years, maybe eight, to see a project like this completed\u201d, Tebet said.<\/p>\n

The Port of Chancay is located about 60 kilometres north of Peru\u2019s capital city Lima. It opened in 2024. China was also heavily involved in the port\u2019s development, through logistics company Cosco. The port is part of the Belt and Road Initiative.<\/p>\n