In 1996 came into the scene in Brazil,  Serra Verde Express, a company created by Higi Serv , a  group  from Paraná, considered one of the giants  in the segment of cleaning and conservation in the South of Brazil. The idea, when creating Serra Verde Express was to set up a business to  administer the transportation of people in the centenary railroad between Curitiba and Paranaguá, Paraná. Until that moment, the service was managed by the Federal Government through the Federal Railway Network (RFFSA).

The new company, in over 10 years of concession, managed to turn the route in the second major tourist attraction in Paraná, behind only of Foz do Iguaçu. Currently, Serra Verde Express transports nearly 150,000 people per year in the stretch between Paranaguá - Curitiba.

In the beginning of 2007, the company managed to renew the concession for another 10 years from the National Agency for Land Transport (ANTT), this was moment of happiness for both entrepreneurs Adonai Aires de Arruda, president of the Higi Serv Group, and his son Adonai Aires de Arruda Filho, who is in charge of Serra Verde Express today. To achieve this goal, he is keen to stress that much work was needed and constant investment.

The know-how acquired through the practice in the system Paranaguá – Curitiba, made the  Serra Verde Express anxious to embrace a new enterprise in the railroad industry and to  launch the country's first luxury train, the Great Brazil Express in 2008. To ensure the success of this project, the entrepreneurs went to Belgium in Europe to become partners of the Transnico International, one of the most renowned international tourist agencies specialized in rail tours and incentive travel. Besides operating the section between Ponta Grossa and Cascavel, in the Brazil, the Luxury Train also operates between the cities of Curitiba and Morretes and between Curitiba and Piraquara in a different ride at night.

Searching for new challenges Serra Verde Express continued its business expansion of touristic trains. In May 2009, the company put into operation the charismatic Pantanal Train, after more than a decade deactivated. So it was reinserted in the national touristic map, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul.

The expertise and seriousness of Serra Verde Express put it back into another bold project: the operation of the Capixabas’ Mountain Train, that has the mission to promote tourism in the Route of the Sun and Mountain in the state of Espírito Santo. The Capixabas’ Mountain Train, whose name was chosen by popular vote, then began to operate in January 2010.

Adonai Aires de Arruda Filho
Commercial Director

                      

Adonai Aires de Arruda
President