Operational performance of Brazilian railroads

Following the neoliberal strategy of the early 1990s the Federal Government included Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA) in the National Privatization Program (PND) in 1992 considering that the state administration was inefficient in operating the Brazilian network. More than ten years after privatization it is necessary to analyze the operational performance of the Brazilian railroads in order to understand whether or not the change from state to private administration led to improvements in the operation of the Brazilian railroad system. To this end this book has adopted some operational performance indicators provided in the Annual Reports on the Monitoring of Railway Concessions prepared by the National Land Transport Agency from 2002 to 2006. The privatization of the Brazilian railroad network was very effective for the growth of investment and productivity in national rail transportation.