About this journey

Curitiba station stands at around 932 metres above sea level on the First Plateau of Paraná, and the Litorina departs southward onto the Ramal de Curitiba — part of the historic Estrada de Ferro Curitiba Paranaguá — before beginning its approximately 70-kilometre run down to Morretes.

The railway was inaugurated in 1885 by Princess Imperial Dona Isabel, becoming the first railway in the state of Paraná. Its arrival transformed the region, though not always gently: in Morretes the new line disrupted the yerba-mate mills that had been the town's commercial foundation since its founding as a settlement in 1721. Today that same infrastructure carries tourist services operated by Serra Verde Express.

The descent from the plateau crosses the Serra do Mar escarpment and passes through Parque Estadual Pico do Marumbi, where the summit of Pico do Marumbi rises to 1,539 metres. The route traverses what has been described as the largest extent of preserved Atlantic Forest in Brazil before arriving at Morretes, situated in the coastal lowlands between the Serra do Mar and the Paraná shore. The journey moves from an upland city built on a plateau to a small historic town shaped first by commerce, then by the very railway now delivering its visitors.