PLANNING
Still in the 19th century, with the growing demand for coffee exports in the Santana River Valley and the Ribeirão de Ubá Valley, the Imperial Government in 1878 sought to build a railroad that would start in Belém (current Japeri) and reach Roça do Alferes (current municipality of Paty do Alferes) to meet the demand for coffee exports that existed in this region. Then, on March 15, 1882, the Imperial Government signed a contract with engineers Luiz Rafael Vieira Souto and Henrique Eduardo Hargreaves to design and execute the construction of this railroad.
On June 5, 1883, the Imperial Government appointed a commission led by engineers Francisco Bicalho, Paulo de Frontin and Carlos Conrado Niemeyer to facilitate the construction of this railway. The project was then to build an alternative metric gauge line between Rio de Janeiro and Paty do Alferes, with the aim of collecting coffee production and other products from the regions of Miguel Pereira and Paty do Alferes.