Brazil will have a high-speed bullet train linking Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in roughly 90 minutes, with commercial service targeted to begin in 2032.
Private consortium, TAV Brasil, which received government authorization in February 2023 to build and operate the line for 99 years, says the 417-kilometer (about 259-mile) route will cut travel time dramatically on what is today a five- to six-hour bus trip.
The company plans four stations along the corridor in central Rio and central Sao Paulo, plus stops in Volta Redonda, Rio de Janeiro, and Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo. The exact station sites must win municipal approval. Technical studies are to be completed by the end of 2026, TAV says, with construction slated to start in 2027.
The bullet train from Rio to Sao Paulo will run at speeds of up to 320 kilometers per hour (about 199 mph).
The bullet train from Rio to Sao Paulo will run at speeds of up to 320 km per hour
Bernardo Figueiredo, chief executive of TAV Brasil, told reporters the service would run at speeds up to 320 kilometers per hour (about 199 mph) and could carry as many as 30 million passengers a year. He estimated the full-route fare at about R$500 (US$92) per leg, with trips to the intermediate stations costing roughly R$250 (US$46) one way.
The project carries a price tag of about R$60 billion (US$11.03 billion) for track work, terminals, rolling stock, and systems. TAV is in talks with potential investors from the Middle East, Spain, and China to raise capital. The company also expects to generate additional revenue through real-estate development near stations, a buildout it estimates at more than R$27 billion (US$4.96 billion).
O Governo do Estado do Rio de Janeiro divulgou hoje os estudos para expansão da malha metroviária.
Peço, ainda, a inclusão, em médio prazo, das linhas 6 (já documentada), 7 e 8, completando a malha ferroviária do Rio de Janeiro.https://t.co/1kxYjD7X2i pic.twitter.com/5AizcFRfiS— Trem-Bala Brasil (@TAV_TremBala) June 10, 2025
TAV projects broad economic returns as the company says the line could add R$168 billion (US$30.88 billion) to Brazil’s gross domestic product, create about 130,000 direct and indirect jobs, and produce R$46 billion (US$8.45 billion) in tax receipts through 2055.
The project’s timeline is subject to regulatory approvals
Officials and industry analysts caution that the timeline remains conditional on regulatory approvals, financing, and the completion of the pending technical studies. The company has provided slightly different travel-time estimates in recent announcements, describing the trip as “about an hour and a half” in some documents, while more recent interviews cited a 105-minute journey. But said the goal is to make rail travel competitive with air service on the busy Rio–Sao Paulo corridor.
The TAV concession was granted without a public bidding process under the current federal model, an approach that restored momentum to a project discussed for decades but repeatedly delayed by politics and financing questions. If the timetable holds, initial works would begin in 2027 and passengers could board the first trains in 2032.
The high-speed line would travel across largely existing transport corridors in some sections, TAV officials said, but it will require extensive engineering works and station construction in dense urban centers. The final route, station locations, and environmental and engineering permits remain subject to review by municipal and federal authorities.
Supporters say the service will offer a faster, lower-carbon alternative to short-haul flights and road travel, and will relieve pressure on the congested “ponte aérea” route that links Brazil’s two largest cities. Critics, however, have pressed for greater transparency over financing and questioned whether projected ridership and economic benefits will materialize.
TAV has said it will move forward with the studies now, with the company and government describing the effort as a major infrastructure push ahead of the next decade. If built as planned, the bullet train would mark one of the most ambitious high-speed rail projects in Latin America and reshape travel on Brazil’s busiest corridor.