Construction has begun on a section of Brazil’s West-East Integration Railway, known as Fiol 2, between the Bahia cities of Guanambi and Caetité, according to André Ludolfo, director of projects at state infrastructure company Infra S.A.
The construction site has been installed, the contractor’s mobilization is under way and initial designs for major engineering structures have been approved. The contract was signed in March with the A.Gaspar/Vipetro consortium, and the section is expected to be completed in 2029.
The work resumes on one of the railway’s most complex segments. The lot had been halted while engineers redesigned the route to move it away from the Ceraíma Dam, after studies identified potential geological and environmental risks. Infra S.A. said the change made it possible to restart construction without jeopardizing environmental licensing.
“The important thing is to start and finish,” Ludolfo told CNN Brasil. He said the company’s current challenge is to create reliable contracts, resolve environmental and social obstacles, and give contractors enough predictability to carry out the work.
Infra S.A. said all Fiol 2 contracts currently under execution have funds committed for 2026, securing financing through the end of this year. Future federal budget allocations cannot yet be guaranteed, although projects already under way generally receive priority.
The railway is intended to create a new route for shipping agricultural production from western Bahia, increasing competition between transport modes and reducing logistics costs. About 50 kilometers of track are expected to enter the track-laying phase during the second half of 2026.
The state-owned company also plans to publish an auction notice by the end of the year for Lot 7, a roughly 160-kilometer section. The contract could be signed in the first half of 2027, which would place the entire Fiol 2 project under construction contracts. Infra S.A. acknowledged that Brazil’s election calendar could complicate the schedule.
The project has faced repeated delays. A 2025 audit by Brazil’s Federal Court of Accounts, or TCU, found significant slippage. After nine months of a contract scheduled to last 26 months, only 3% of the services had been measured, no construction front had started and no executive design had been approved at that time.
Infra S.A. identified 74 kilometers of Fiol 2 as blocked in 2023 by environmental, land-ownership, cave-preservation and traditional-community issues. Since then, 46 kilometers have been cleared through negotiations, design changes and environmental authorizations. The remaining 28 kilometers are expected to be resolved by the end of 2026 or during 2027. Some agreements involved quilombola communities, while other sections required route changes to protect caves covered by specific preservation rules.
Fiol 2 is also central to plans for a broader East-West Logistics Corridor linking the Fiol and Fico railways to Bahia’s coast. Construction of Fiol 3 is conditioned on the completion of Fiol 1 and Fiol 2, as well as the operation of Porto Sul.
Fiol 1 remains a major obstacle. Its controlling company, Bamin, has made no investment in constructing the line since taking control in 2021. A proposed transfer of the asset to Portugal’s Mota-Engil remains pending at Brazil’s land-transport regulator, ANTT, awaiting a formal purchase request from the company.
This is single-source reporting based on CNN Brasil’s account.