The Carajás Railway (; EFC or EF-315) is a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
line linking the cities of
Parauapebas
Parauapebas is a municipality in the state of Pará in the Northern region of Brazil.
Geography
To the north is the municipality of Marabá; to the east, Curionópolis; to the south-east, Canaã dos Carajás; to the south, Água Azu ...
,
Pará
Pará is a Federative units of Brazil, state of Brazil, located in northern Brazil and traversed by the lower Amazon River. It borders the Brazilian states of Amapá, Maranhão, Tocantins (state), Tocantins, Mato Grosso, Amazonas (Brazilian state) ...
and
São Luís,
Maranhão
Maranhão () is a state in Brazil. Located in the country's Northeast Region, it has a population of about 7 million and an area of . Clockwise from north, it borders on the Atlantic Ocean for 2,243 km and the states of Piauí, Tocantins and ...
, in Brazil. The line is one of the few in Brazil to carry passengers as well as cargo.
It is one of the largest passenger railways in operation in Brazil, with five stations and ten stops, covering São Luís,
Santa Inês
Santa Inês is a Municipalities of Brazil, municipality in the states of Brazil, state of Maranhão in the Nordeste, North-East region of Brazil. .Geography: the climate of city is tropical with dry season.
The municipality contains a small part ...
,
Açailândia
Açailândia () is a Brazilian municipality in the western part of Maranhão State, at an elevation of . Its population in 2020 was estimated to be 113,121, making it the eighth largest city in the state. The name of the city means "land of the a ...
,
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. It transports over 120 million tons of cargo and 350,000 passengers a year.
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 Port of Itaqui is a Brazilian port located in the city of São Luís, Maranhão. It is not to be confused with the city of Itaqui, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, near the border with Argentina. The main cargoes include aluminum ingots and bars, ...
, in São Luís.
References
{{Reflist
5 ft 3 in gauge railways in Brazil