Integração entre porto e ferrovia para contêineres no Porto de Santos: instrumentos de política pública para a coordenação da interface

Abstract

The Port of Santos handled 5.9 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2025, yet rail, which accounts for approximately 36% of the port’s cargo throughput, still transports relatively few containers. Terminals and rail operators schedule their operating windows separately, under different regulatory agencies, and no public instrument currently requires coordination at this interface. This article proposes public policy instruments to address the coordination failure between port and rail operations in container transportation at Santos. The study examined sector-specific legislation and the literature on coordination in hinterland transport chains, compared the experiences of the ports of Hamburg and Rotterdam, and analyzed 2025 origin-destination data from the National Land Transport Agency (ANTT) concerning container flows associated with stations in the Baixada Santista region. These flows totaled 2.02 million net tonnes, representing approximately 3% of the port’s containerized cargo tonnage, compared with Hamburg’s 50.2% rail modal share in container transportation. Two stations accounted for 85% of the volume, while containers represented only 3.6% of rail traffic at port stations, which are dominated by bulk cargo. On the return journey to Mato Grosso, 78% of the tonnage consisted of empty containers. The analysis identified four underlying causes of the coordination failure: institutional, contractual, informational, and operational. The proposed measures include a joint regulatory instrument issued by the land and waterway transport agencies, intermodal performance clauses in terminal lease agreements, financial incentives tied to performance indicators, and an interface governance committee. These instruments are already permitted under current legislation and can be implemented without requiring immediate physical infrastructure expansion.