Metro transport Rio

Metro Rio de Janeiro has been operating since March 1979 when it was opened by the administration of Governor Chagas Freitas. Since 1997, with the award, administration and operation of lines and stations were to charge the Consortium Opportrans (Metro Rio), dealer for a period of 20 years. The Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro remains responsible for the expansion of subway network, through the company’s River Trails.

In late December 2007, the lease was renewed until 2038 and the Rio Metro assumed responsibility for the construction of Line 1A, which will connect the line 2 to line 1, ending the need to transfer Statius for the purchase of 114 cars and construction of the Stations Uruguay and New Town. It is the second most extensive network in the country, at 42km divided into two lines and 38 stations, second only to Sao Paulo Metro. It carries daily about 550 thousand passengers.

Early Years and 1980’s

In 1979 they started the operations of the Subway Rio de Janeiro with only 5 stations: Praca Onze; Central; Presidente Vargas; Municipal Theater and Glory, at the time of 9hrs at 15hrs. During the first 10 days, the system carried more than 1/2 million people, with a daily average of 60 thousand users. The peak of the operation was in the station Cinelandia, with more than 1/3 of total passengers. At the time, the subway worked with only 4 trains with 4 carriages, at an average interval of 8 minutes. In December of that year, the operation expanded its commercial activities to 23hrs, including Saturdays.

The following year the subway system began to be expanded with the opening of stations Uruguaiana and Estacio. The 2 new stations triggered a greater demand of passengers, forcing the company to increase the number of trains from 4 to 6. Carioca station, which runs the largest number of passengers – more than 80 thousand a day – was completed in January 1981.

In the same year they also inaugurated stations Catete, Morro Azul – today, Flemish – and Botafogo. In November this year they opened line 2, which only included the stations Saint Kitts and Maracana. In December, they completed the southern section of Line 1, and opened the season Largo do Machado. In 1982, they began the openings of the passage further north, with the start-up of stations Afonso Pena, St. Francis Xavier and Saens Pena. Also in 1982, they opened the screening station, line 2, by the then governor of the state, Chagas Freitas.

Metro Station Iraja

In order to allow the completion of Line 2 to Iraja, in 1983, the trains of Line 2 began to circulate from 6hrs to 14hrs. For a month, after that, at up to 20hrs, they implemented a free bus service, integrating the stations Estacio, Saint Kitts and Maracana. After completion, they opened a pre-metro station and Maria da Graca, Del Castilho, Corvettes and Iraja. The year 1984 was marked by the start of commercial operations of Line 2 with 5 trains on weekdays, at 5.30 during the week. Sticking to the expansion, the screening station was inaugurated in July 1988, the year that saw the creation of ticket integration of the Subway/Train.

1990’s

In 1991 the station was inaugurated by the Engine Queen. From 1991 until 1996, two stations were opened: Thomas Cole (1996) and Vicente de Carvalho. This period, saw the range of 9 trains of Line 2 increased to 6 minutes. In July 98, the important fact for one of the most traditional neighborhoods of Rio was the inauguration of Cardinal Arcoverde station, in Copacabana, a true work of art.

In 1997, they began the operation of Carnival, with continuous operation during the days of revelry. In December of that year, with privatization, the management and operation of the company passed into the hands of the Consortium Opportrans, who were dealers for a period of 20 years, leaving the responsibility of the state government of Rio de Janeiro’s expansions of the subway network to company Rio rails. New Year’s Eve in Rio is worth mentioning for the performance of Opportrans which has taken place since 1999 and is conducted by a Special Operation. Tickets are illustrated with scheduled appointments to avoid overcrowding and provide the best service.

2000s

In 2002 they inaugurated the second season of Copacabana: Siqueira Campos and concluded the opening of the third season of the neighborhood, Cantagalo, in February 2007. At the end of 2009, following the schedule they will be operating the station General Osorio, located in Ipanema. In 2008, the Rio Metro announced plans to expand the subway network, and make other improvements in the system such as the project Metro Century.

One of the most cited is the creation of line 1A, connecting stations Saint Kitts and Central, releasing the passenger traffic at the station Estacio, excluding the need to transfer to line 1, saving the time between those two stations of up to 13 minutes, allowing a direct voyage to the station Pavuna, until the station Botafogo.

At the halfway point of the line 1A, a station will be built in New Town, in the neighbourhood of homonomo that will be located in front of the building of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, at Avenida Presidente Vargas. In December 2009, there is due to be opened the season General Osorio in Ipanema and in 2014, they will complete the season Uruguay, succeeding station Saens Pena in the northern zone.

Table System

Line Terminals Opened Length (km) Duration of Travel Stations (min) operation 1
Orange Cantagalo ↔ Saens Pena 1979 15.94 18 28 Monday to Saturday from 5:00 to 24:00 and on Sundays and holidays, from 7:00 to 23:00 1A Brown Kitts ↔ Central 2010 1.5 3 under construction 2 Green Estacio ↔ Pavuna 1981 22 16 35 Monday to Saturday from 5:00 to 24:00 and on Sundays and holidays, from 7:00 to 23:00 3 Blue Carioca ↔ Guaxindiba 15 in project 4 Gray Dawn Rio Sul ↔ 11 in project 5 Yellow I Governor ↔ Santos Dumont 12 in project 6 Magenta Galleon Dawn ↔ 16 in project.

Lines System

Metro Rio de Janeiro
Line 1 – Orange
Line 1A – Brown
Line 2 – Green
Line 3 – Blue
Line 4 – Gray
Line 5 – Yellow
Line 6 – Magenta

Fleet
Main article: Fleet – Metro Rio de Janeiro
Tickets and fares

Card Unit – R $2.80
Prepaid Card (minimum initial load) – $10.00
Prepaid Card (Refill minimum) – $5.00
Subway on the Surface – Siqueira Campos / Gavea – R $2.80
Subway on the Surface – Botafogo / Gavea – R $2.80
Expresso Bar – Siqueira Campos / Dawn – R $3.70
Intercity Bus Integration (Pavuna) – R $4.20
Integration Superhighway – R $3.80
Integration Express Bus – R $3.60
Rates in force since February 9th 2009.

Projects
Existing mesh

The subway in Rio de Janeiro involves a series of works to expand the metro network on the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Line 1A

This project involves the construction of a stretch from St. Kitts (line 2) and Central (Line 1), making it possible for the trains originating in line 2 to travel through a stretch of line 1 for greater demand, doubling the capacity of the system.

Path connection Pavuna / Botafogo

The operation of the line would be between 1 and Cantagalo Saens Pena, 2 and the line would operate between Botafogo and Pavuna. The project was announced in early 2007 and has cost around $900 million, including a station at the beginning of Av. Vargas opposite the ADMINITRATIVO San Sebastian, now the headquarters of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, which will be called New Town Station. With this change, scheduled to enter service in 2009, the stretch between St. Kitts and Estacio would only operate in special situations.

The expectation is that the system carries 1.1 million passengers per day, plus provides a host of new additions, especially in line 2, which currently does not offer this service due to saturation of transhipment in Estacio.
Critics argue that this expansion was the abandonment of the original project, which would take line 2 between Carioca and Estacio, via the Red Cross, allowing direct access of line 2 to the financial district of the city. The favorable claims that cities adopt the same system with good results, as the Metro Brasilia, for example.

Line 3

This links the Carioca Station (downtown), to Niteroi, Sao Goncalo up, and then the Itaborai, through a tunnel passing under the Bay. It is the subway line with a greater chance of implementation in the short term. It meets the demand of very densely populated areas and a lack of mass transit, essentially in the city of Sao Goncalo. The line would cut its full length, and through Niteroi and, subsequently, reaching Itaborai, where a major refinery of Petrobras (Comperj) will be built in the coming years, increasing demand for transport to the region. This road has designed a piece priority and two passages that will be paid up at a later stage.

The passage that connects the square Arariboia Carioca Station via Praca XV, has no provision for the short term due to its high cost. According to this passage in Agencia, Brasil the tunnel is 5.5km in Guanabara Bay and will cost from $1.87 billion.

The Petrobras refinery will be located near the Port of Boxes and Visconde de Niteroi, less densely populated towns and the passenger train on the Central Branch of Niteroi. The South Zone and the Oceanic Region of Niteroi can also come to be served by Line 3, especially if the words Niteroi – Rio de Janeiro were to be dropped, the line can go through the neighborhoods of Inga Icarai, San Francisco, Viradouro, Pendotiba, Piratininga and museum, for example.

Line 4

This section will link the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood of Botafogo, but there are studies in order to bring the line to the station Carioca. The main path of the line is between Ocean Garden (at Av Armando Lombardi) and Gavea (Sibelius Square), where it would connect to Line 1. Besides these, the station Rocinha Sao Conrado and would be part of the stretch. There are several controversies about which route to follow, the principle is followed by the Botanical Gardens, Humaita and makes another connection to Line 1, Station Hill of St. John.

Another option is to stretch the line that goes to the Largo da Carioca, where there are no plans to connect the lines 2 and 3, and the passage of Line 1. In this passage, from Humaita there would be a station in Largo Lions, Cosme Velho, Laranjeiras and a possible station in the district or Fatima in Santa Teresa, reaching Carioca. Line 4 did not indicate the economic viability for the complexity of the work involved, and it is true that in the short term there will be work to be built. In this same path in the past came other ideas, like the HSST or magnetic levitation train, as well as proposals to double the tunnels connecting the South Zone to the area of Barra da Tijuca.

Line 5

This links the International Airport Antonio Carlos Jobim to Santos Dumont Airport. It was considered a more political project, aimed at the city’s application to the 2004 Olympic Games, than a serious proposal. Line 5, in the original project, would connect the Governors Island (with connections to the Airport Antonio Carlos Jobim), from UFRJ, Brazil Avenue, New River Road, Cais do Porto, Praca Maua, Praca XV and Santos Dumont Airport. Faria connection with Metro Line 3 at Praca XV. Alternative paths are discussed.

An alternative is the rise in the cross-link of the north-south link, connecting with Line 2 in Mary of Grace, with the stations and signing of Supervia Meier, still going through the neighborhoods of Cachambi, New Engine, Vila Isabel, and to connect with Andarai Line 1 at the time of the future station at Uruguay. In this alternative, the Subway Tunnel Tijuca – Gavea would become part of Line 5, with the seasons Praca Santos Dumont, Sibelius Square (both in Gavea) and Square Antero de Quental (Leblon).

This alternate route is similar to the “Cross 4″, or T-4, Plan Jaime Lerner, which linked the Governors Island will Saens Pena Square, via Meier, Corvettes and Ramos. The original path is certainly not enough demand features for deployment, with the alternative plan of exclusive lanes for buses to the Governors Island, as well as integration terminals. Since the alternative path would have great demand as cutting all rail lines and subway radial city would promote a north-south link much more rationally, removing much of the dislocations needed to go through downtown.

Interior Arcoverde Cardinal Station in Copacabana
Line 6

Links the Barra da Tijuca to the International Airport Antonio Carlos Jobim, through Duque de Caxias, Madureira and Taquara. It is a transverse line of high demand. Several projects have been associated with the main passage from the 60s when it was thought a cross-connection between downtown and Station Jacarepagua da Penha, currently the Superhighway, passing to Iraja, and Madureira Magno, then the 3 train stations, today the first part of the Metro Line 2. At that time there were trams and trolleybuses and buses after the stretch between Madureira and Penha. De Madureira and Cascadura have buses that depart then for the almost uninhabited marshland at Jacarepagua, and Barra da Tijuca comes down to the city now known as Barrinha Garden and Ocean.

Plan Lucio Costa, opening the Avenue of the Americas (then BR-2, Rodovia Rio-Santos) gave impetus to the expansion of the Barra da Tijuca and the whole area of Jacarepagua became the fastest growing region in the city since the 70’s. At that time the view of the mass transport, especially on tracks, were they rejected the priority road and private transport, and was a great opportunity to have a quality transportation in the region.

The PIT-Metro Plan, which preceded the construction of Line 1, already provided the link between Penha Alvorada via Square Bicao, Iraja Vaz Lobo, Madureira/Magno, Camp, Praca Seca, Tank, and Taquara City God. The same course was designed by the Plan Jaime Lerner, 1984, which was titled as “Cross 5″, or T-5, and would be done by bus rapid transit corridors, in the same way as in the city of Curitiba.

Unfortunately none of the projects has been put forth, and promoting the city of Rio de Janeiro Pan American Games Rio in 2007 brought to light visible paths. The city chose to bet on the Trans-Pan Project, with similar paths to highways Yellow Line and Red Line, which actually end up competing with the route of Line 6, which has much greater demand.