Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil

On 9 February 1855, The imperial government of Brazil signed a contract with Edward Price for the construction of the first section of a railway which had the aim of linking the court (then in the city of Rio de Janeiro) with the provinces of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

It was constituted as the Companhia de Estrada de Ferro Dom Pedro II, under the directorship of Christiano Benedicto Ottoni. Works commenced on 11 June 1855 and on 29 March 1858, the 48 km 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) gauge section from Rio de Janeiro to Freguesia de Nossa Senhora da Conceição de Marapicu (now Queimados) was completed.

At this time there were 5 stations: Campo, Engenho Novo, Cascadura (all in the city of Rio), Maxambomba (now Nova Iguaçu) and Queimados. On 8 November the railway was extended to Belém (now Japeri) at the foot of the Serra do Mar.