On August 26, the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil approved the bill 3364/2020, which deals with the emergency aid to public transport, and now the bill goes for deliberation in the Federal Senate. The approval of the aid has been awaited for months by operators of public transport systems, which are going through a serious financial crisis due to the reduction in passenger demand caused by the pandemic of Covid-19, enacted in March.
The National Association of Passenger Rail Operators (ANPTrilhos), an entity that represents the companies that operate passenger transport on rails throughout Brazil, thanks the efforts of the Deputies for approval of the bill and reinforces the appeal to the Senators for the project to be deliberated quickly, warning that the aid is essential for the maintenance of rail transport services in some Brazilian cities.
“Even with the abrupt reduction in demand and, automatically, in revenue, the operators maintained their operations and regular service to the population. Five months after the start of the crisis, the financial situation is unsustainable and aid is essential so operations are not paralyzed. Operators have already made the possible adjustments to maintain operations, such as renegotiating contracts with suppliers, but the financial situation is at a critical moment and the service is about to collapse”, explains the President of ANPTrilhos, Joubert Flores.
The subway, urban train and Light Rail systems across Brazil are carrying only 44% of the passengers who used to carry and add a deficit in revenue of -R$ 5.2 billion, referring only to fare collection.
Click here to read the full release, in Portuguese.
