In the beginning, railways were a public asset. Then, in 1992, the Federal Government included the Rede Ferroviária Federal S.A. (RFFSA) in its National Privatization Program (Programa Nacional de Desestatização, PND), thus starting the process of privatization of this segment, which took place between years 1996 and 1998. In any case, the exploitation of railways today is dependent on concessions. Where it’s not associated with infrastructure exploitation, the transportation of passengers depends on (i) authorization, when it’s not regular transportation; and (ii) permission, when it is regular transportation.

On June 05, 2001, by means of Law number 10.233, the National Agency of Terrestrial Transportation (Agência Nacional dos Transportes Terrestres, ANTT), which regulates and supervises terrestrial transportation policies, including those related to railways, at federal level was created. It is the responsibility of the ANTT to (i) publish the bids, evaluate the competing bidders, and execute the concession contracts for railway transportation services and the construction and exploitation of new railways, and their binding to operational assets lease contracts; and (ii) to manage the railway concession and lease contracts executed before the Agency was created. The railway concession contracts assigned by the Federal Government impose certain ownership limits upon shareholders of companies belonging to that segment.

ANTT also sets forth different tariff restrictions for each railway services concession holder for each of the transported products. Within such limits, the rates practiced can be negotiated directly with the users of such services.