World Cup Brazil 2014

Is the transportation infrastructure in Brazil ready for the World Cup 2014? Will it be?

First point: Brazil is much bigger than South Africa, and the host cities of the World Cup 2014 are much more far apart than those in 2010.

In France, Japan, Korea and Germany (hosts of the most recent Cups), the main means of transportation between cities was the train. Brazil has no railway networks for transportation of passengers (most long distance railways operate cargo only); a bidding process is going on to build a bullet train between Rio and Sao Paulo, but it is uncertain whether it will ready by 2014 (estimated costs border US$ 20 billion) – update: the Government already declared that the bullet train will be ready only by 2018.

That means taht there are not and there will not be trains connecting the host cities of the World Cup 2014.

Brazilian airports are poor, compared to those in developed countries. Usually, there is only one major airport in each State (exceptions are only São Paulo, Rio and Minas Gerais), which concentrates all traffic. See notes about the airports here, here and here.

Air control, despite recent accidents (like this and this), is considered safe; however, it is uncertain whether the system will stand the major increase in air traffic expected for the World Cup.

Besides, supply of seats is limited. Just two airlines, TAM and Gol, control about 90% od all flights; there are strong restrictions for other international companies to operate in Brazil. This lack of competition caused the services of both companies to be poor; the companies rank amongst the most complained about in the Consumer Defense Agencies in Brazil. The companies never had interest in expanding the aerial network in Brazil; several of the host cities have no direct connection today (usually, a stop over is necessary in the major hubs: Sao Paulo and Brasilia).

Brazil announced heavy investments in airports, but frauds and delays are already being reported. It is dubious whether air companies will have the willing and the money to buy new aircrafts.

Brazil has an extensive network of highways. Several roads are in bad conditions, but the Governments are making efforts to improve them, either by chartering operations to private parties (NovaDutra operates the highway between Rio and Sao Paulo), or by investing large amounts of money (BR-101, which connects Salvador, Recife, Natal and Fortaleza, will be double laned next year).

So, long distance highways should be in good conditions for 2014. It remains to be seem if foreign visitors will endure the long distance drivings and the proverbial lack of education of Brazilian drivers (from 1999 to 2007, a staggering 254,000 deaths occurred in transit accidents in Brazil).

Governments are investment heavily to improve urban circulation; more highways, more metros, better urbanization. This will certainly help the residents, but won’t help visitors move around cities.

Then, there are ships. Almost all host cities have a port nearby. Cruises are growing in Brazil, and ships may be an option in 2014.

So, if the poor infrastructure in South Africa raises concerns in CBF, the situation in Brazil seems even worse.