Metros operating, and under construction: Steam-powered, horse-drawn and electric tramways operated in Brazil from 1859 until 1989, new systems were introduced in the 1980s and 90s in Rio de Janeiro and Campinas with no success,[6] nevertheless, that may change soon as studies are being conducted to introduce tramway systems in Goiânia,[7] and Curitiba now plans a light metro[broken anchor] to replace bus rapid transit (BRT) in a major corridor,[8] and in Cariri, the Cariri MetroTram that will run between Crato and Juazeiro do Norte is under construction.

By then, most tracks and rolling stock were in a very poor condition and most trains would not run over 60 km/h even on broad gauge, forcing the now private-run railway companies to shut down almost every single regional and long-distance services in the entire country in the next 5 years.

Brazil is densely populated on the coast and southeast regions, making passenger train operation highly feasible; some areas, like the area north and east of São Paulo, have an extremely high demand for passenger trains,[10] with, for example, over 4 million inhabitants in the 150 km area north of Greater São Paulo and over 3 million inhabitants in the 450 km area between São Paulo and Rio that have absolutely no passenger rail transportation and rely on other transportation, like airplanes in the case of São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro air bridge, which is one of the busiest shuttle air routes in the world, with flights taking off every 10 minutes between both cities.

And closer destinations (such as Greater Campinas, which have 3 million inhabitants and is just 90 km north of São Paulo) need to rely exclusively on intercity buses that are slow, have low capacity and are close to being completely saturated.

Brazil today has only a few heritage railways and two long-distance trains operated by Vale on narrow gauge that are more of a tourist attraction because of the scenic journey than a transportation system, especially because of the slow operating speed (60 km/h maximum), making Brazil's land public transportation infrastructure one of the worst and slowest in the world.

Both systems are in constant expansion, but São Paulo is growing much faster, with currently 6 projects of subway and commuter lines being applied (3 in construction and 3 in advanced planning).

In September 2008, Brazil's Transportation Ministry announced a high-speed train project for the world cup connecting São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Campinas.

In 2010, São Paulo state government showed off a project to build up 4 regional intercity trains routes connecting the area surrounding São Paulo with high population cities close by,[13] which today rely exclusively on intercity buses that are almost completely saturated and running at absurdly short intervals at full capacity.

On 23 August 2008, Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela agreed to develop an electrified long-distance passenger railway link between these countries.

Additional issues arose with the extra axles, primarily due to the increased length of locomotives creating excessive drawbar swing, causing some derailments on tighter curves.

The first significant try to build a railway was the founding on an Anglo-Brazilian company in Rio de Janeiro in 1832, which planned to connect the city of Porto Feliz to the port of Santos.

[19] On 26 July 1852, Law 641, which gave advantages like a 90-year guarantee of a 33 km exclusion zone, the right to desapropriate any land that was "in the way", and a tax break for the import of railway material.

[19] Some time before the enacting of Law 641, the banker Irineu Evangelista de Souza requested permission to build a railway connecting the Port of Mauá, in the Bay of Guanabara, to Raiz da Serra.

Irineu's company, Imperial Companhia de Navegação a Vapor - Estrada de Ferro Petrópolis ("Imperial Steam Navigation Company - Petropolis Railroad"), realized the first port-railway operation in Brazil, transporting cargo from the ship Praça XV to Raiz da Serra.

In 1907, the process of leasing out the Brazilian rail network started, with a statement from then president Campos Sales: Our long experience has shown that there's no advantage in keeping the railways under national management.

Starting with the first government of Getúlio Vargas, the development of highways was prioritized, putting others ways, which until then had played key roles in national planning in the background.

With the objective to reduce the debt of the railways, the used track was cut down to 32.163 km in 1964, and in the following years many branch lines which were considered uneconomical were closed down.

During the '80s, a lot of the network fell into permanent disrepair, and the railways, which were the most efficient method of transport lost much of its market share.

Due to the opening up of the economy, Brazil entering international markets and the need for better alternatives for cargo transport, the RFFSA was sold off to private companies in 1996, with FEPASA following up in 1997.

It had one of the world's first tramways: an 1859 system in Rio de Janeiro pre-dates street railway experiments in all European countries except France.