Long distance passenger trains
When FEPASA was formed, services were maintained according to the pattern established by the now-defunct CPEF, with 60 trains a day in both directions and throughout the broad-gauge network. However, the degradation of the service and the age of the material used were already showing signs that passenger transport would enter an ultimate phase, as a survey carried out between 1970 and 1974 pointed out a decrease in passenger movement, comparing it with transport by road bus, where the train carried 10.6% of the total that buses had carried in 1970, and shows that already in 1974 it carried only 4.2% of the bus.[74]
In this period few measures were taken, where traffic in the busiest areas was maintained, but with the suppression of service in the extensions and in some lines of the trunk line as well, such as the one from Barretos to Colombia.
So new train formats were applied, such as the regular PM, PS, and PP trains (Passenger Mogiana, Passenger Sorocabana, and Passenger Paulista). Among the stations that were in operation, only the busiest ones remained open. Services like the Pullman class cars were extinct, wooden cars were switched to "unpaid" service, and a first reform of the fleet was carried out. In 1983 the second painting pattern used by FEPASA on passenger cars appeared (blue with two white stripes),[74] a little different from the first painting that was entirely blue as in the CPEF.[75]
It was only during the Quércia administration, in 1988, that a new reformulation of the trains began, with the creation of the "Trem Diferenciado" (Differentiated Train). It was the way found to renew the image of passenger service, proposing improvements in the operation and rolling stock with moderate investment. At this time, the third painting pattern for the carbon steel cars (gray with three stripes: red, white, and black) was created. The project was inaugurated in September 1988 with 12 reformed carbon steel cars, where each composition was formed by six cars, one which ran the São Paulo-Barretos line and another which ran the São Paulo-Marília line. This train was considered "parador" (stopper) as it served all the stations open on the lines, with just over 30 on each line.[74]
Also in September 1988 the "Trem Expresso" (Express Train) was introduced, which served the São Paulo-Araraquara section, and for this another 12 cars were selected and reformed, this time using only stainless steel cars, receiving also the new external paint pattern of the carbon steel cars and each composition was formed by six cars, the same way as the "Trem Diferenciado".[74]
These services lasted until the mid-1990s but with several changes, such as the implantation of new cars to the compositions, schedule changes, and even the mixture between stainless and carbon steel cars with different types of painting, breaking the standardization of the compositions.
In 1995, during the Covas government, the new administration set some investment goals, which also included the reform and modernization of passenger trains. The proposal was based on the increase in revenue with a reduction in costs and the renovation of all the equipment and stations, with two fronts to be attacked: the traveler and the tourist – for the latter, TremTur was created, a division of FEPASA in partnership with EMBRATUR, which was given the mission of fomenting railway tourism in the state of São Paulo.
To offer these new services, FEPASA refurbished the stainless steel cars and also some carbon steel cars. At this time, the latest standard of painting for passenger cars appears (three thin continuous stripes – red, white and black – on the skirt of the car, and on the pediment over the windows carried, next to the new FEPASA logo, the name of the company in full, and to identify which train they belonged to, each of the compositions carried its name on a plate or sticker on the side of the car).[76]
The new passenger trains were as follows:
All passenger trains still in operation were "suspended" by the new FERROBAN concessionaire on January 18, 1999, under the allegation that the service was precarious and offered risk to users. But as the concession notice for the São Paulo network required the maintenance of passenger services for another year, some lines were resumed on August 1, 1999, and the last trains had their operation stopped on March 15, 2001, when, 130 years after the first passenger train in the state of São Paulo circulated, its last attempts to continue were eradicated.[76]
- Bandeirante Trains: to compete with road transport, they were equivalent to the old regular trains.
- Express Trains: were the new models of the fast trains created in the second half of the 1980s, now with even luxurious refinements to attract tourists.
- Special Train: created to serve the needy population.
Freight transportation
EPASA was inserted in the Brazilian railway network as an important agent for the flow of production from the new agricultural frontiers of the Central-West to the highly industrialized region around São Paulo. It was also connected to the north–south rail link in Brazil, essential for the circulation and distribution of goods nationwide. In addition, its access to the country's most important port made it possible for Brazilian products with high added value to be present in the international market.[2]
Freight transportation was FEPASA's most important traffic and source of revenue. The main products transported were cement, cement clinker, iron, steel, fertilizers, paper, cellulose, bauxite, sulfur, ammonium, dolomite, limestone, hydrated lime, phosphates, fuels (alcohol and petroleum derivatives), coffee, sugar, cotton, meat, beans, rice, corn, wheat, soybeans, peanuts, wheat flour, bran in general, vegetable oils, oranges (citrus juices and pellets) and
