TTRANS Sistemas de Transportes, a member of the VLT RMBS consortium building the 15km light rail line in the Brazilian city of Santos, has selected Thales to supply signalling and communications systems for the project.

MR Geraldo Alckmin, governor of the state of São Paulo announced on May 9 that the project to build an Airport Express link between Luz station in central São Paulo and Guarulhos International Airport has been cancelled due lack of interest from the private sector.

BRAZILIAN mining conglomerate Vale has cleared a significant hurdle in its plans to build a railway to serve the new Carajás Serra Sul (S11D) mine in the state of Pará after the project was granted environmental approval by the federal government.

BRAZILIAN rail freight operator MRS Logistics signed an agreement with Rio de Janeiro state governor Mr Sergio Cabral on April 25 authorising the construction of an intermodal terminal in Queimados, 25km northwest of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

A CONSORTIUM led by Brazilian companies CCR Group and Invepar has been selected as the preferred bidder for a PPP contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the 28km light rail network in Porto Maravilha, Rio de Janeiro.

KNORR-Bremse opened a new manufacturing facility in Itupeva in São Paulo state, Brazil, on April 17 following a Reais 111m ($US 55.6m) investment.

DESPITE a slowdown in economic growth, Brazil's freight railways invested nearly Reais 4.9bn ($US 2.4bn) in new infrastructure and equipment last year, a 6.6% increase over 2011, according to figures released by the National Association of Rail Transport (ANTF) on April 3.

THE Brazilian subsidiary of VAE is putting the finishing touches to its new turnout plant at Bacabeira, in Maranhão state, which is due to begin production in May.

BRAZIL's Logistics and Planning Company (EPL) has announced it will issue tender documents in May for the contract to build the Central-West Integration Railway (Fico).