the imperial companhia de navegaçăo a vapor e estrada de ferro de petrópolis was the name of the first railroad in brazil, inaugurated in 1854 by dom pedro ii. built by irineu evangelista de souza, the railroad stretched from praia mauá to guanabara and ended in fragoso, in neighboring state of minas gerais. while there were several other railroads built after this first one, brazil's first passenger train, called estrada de ferro do corcovado, was not inaugurated until 1885 - used now to get to the statue of christ on corcovado. because rio was the country's first capital, it was the site of many of brazil's first large infrastructure projects and by the end of the 19th century, the city had completed the construction of four railroads - understandably, the history of the railway construction in brazil is deeply intertwined with the historical and social development of the country.
