Carajás Railway

The Carajás Railway (Portuguese: Estrada de Ferro Carajás; EFC or EF-315) is a railway line linking the cities of Parauapebas, Pará and São Luís, Maranhão, in Brazil. The line is one of the few in Brazil to carry passengers as well as cargo.[1]

Carajás Railway

The railway
Overview
Service type	Inter-city
Status	Operational
Locale	Pará and Maranhão
First service	28 February 1985 (1985-02-28)
Current operator(s)	Vale S.A.
Website	Trem de Passageiros da EFC
Route
Termini	Parauapebas São Luís
Stops	25
Distance travelled	892 km (554 mi)
Service frequency	2 per week
On-board services
Class(es)	Economic, executive and accessible
Disabled access	Fully accessible
Seating arrangements	4 across in Economic Class, 3 across in Executive Class
Catering facilities	On-board café, at-seat meals
Entertainment facilities	Video monitors in Economic Class, personal sound system in Executive Class
Baggage facilities	Overhead bins and racks; no checked luggage
Technical
Track gauge	1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in)
Operating speed	70 km/h (43 mph)

It is one of the largest passenger railways in operation in Brazil, with five stations and ten stops, covering São Luís, Santa Inês, Açailândia, Marabá and Parauapebas. However, the EF-315 is specialized in transporting mineral cargo, extracted from the Serra dos Carajás mines, and taken to the ports of São Marcos Bay in Maranhão for export.[2] It transports over 120 million tons of cargo and 350,000 passengers a year.[3]

The EF-315 is also interconnected with two other railway lines: São Luís–Teresina Railway and Norte-Sul Railway. The first crosses states in the Northeast region and the second crosses the states of Maranhão, Tocantins, Goiás, Minas Gerais and São Paulo, facilitating the export of grains and industrialized products through the Port of Itaqui, in São Luís.[3][4]