Ribeirão Preto Marks Nearly 30 Years Without Passenger Train Service

Ribeirão Preto will mark 29 years since the suspension of passenger railway services on Thursday, September 10. Since the cessation of these activities in 1997, only cargo trains have operated in the city. The passenger service was previously operated by the now extinct Fepasa, which served the Campinas to Uberlândia line. Two months before the service ended, the line transported only 7,200 passengers, resulting in a loss for the state railway company.

Denis Esteves, president of the Instituto História do Trem de Ribeirão Preto, noted that the service was suspended on September 11 of that year. He described subsequent lines in the state as precarious because they did not stop at all stations. The last regular passenger train in the interior of São Paulo operated on March 14, 2001, when a Ferroban train traveled from Campinas to Bauru with only 20 passengers. Both the Fepasa and Ferroban services were described as being in poor condition, with dirty interiors, torn upholstery, and malfunctioning windows.

Historically, the railway was fundamental to the growth of Ribeirão Preto. The city developed its economy through large coffee plantations that used the Companhia Mogiana tracks to transport products to the port of Santos. This period of growth occurred between November 1883 and 1929, when the New York Stock Exchange crash severely impacted the local economy. During this era, the city saw a significant population increase and the arrival of thousands of immigrants, primarily Italians. The suspension of passenger services in 1997 is viewed as a long term consequence of the economic crises following the 1929 crash, which left many railway companies in debt or operating at a deficit.