INFRASTRUCTURE
Ferrogrão rainforest railway faces its moment of truth
Rail is seen as a more sustainable alternative to road for Brazil’s massive grain transport needs, but the Ferrogrão project comes with myriad concerns and question marks. Photo: Alf Ribeiro/Shutterstock
A path to economic gain, or a track of environmental destruction. Infrastructure projects in Brazil’s Amazon region typically fall under both of these descriptions simultaneously, particularly when it comes to transport in an otherwise isolated and hard-to-navigate part of the world.
Among the most emblematic of these projects is EF-170, best known as the Ferrogrão, or Grain Railway. It consists of a 933-kilometer train track linking…
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