Rio de Janeiro Light Rail ( pt, VLT Carioca) is a modern light rail system serving

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. The system is among several new

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

developments in the region ahead of the city's successful bid for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

. Its official name is , the

initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

"VLT" (which stands for ''veículo leve sobre trilhos'', literally ''Light vehicle on rails'') being equivalent to the English term '' light rail''.

Overview

Rio light rail arriving at Santos Dumont station

The first phase, consisting of a single 15-kilometre line between the

Novo Rio Bus Terminal Novo Rio Bus Terminal ( pt, Terminal Rodoviário Novo Rio) is the main bus station in Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. The terminal was constructed in 1965 and was built for the proximity to Centro and key routes in and out of Rio de ...

and

Santos Dumont Airport Santos Dumont Airport is the second major airport serving Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named after the Brazilian aviation pioneer Alberto Santos Dumont (1873–1932). It is operated by Infraero. Santos Dumont has slot restrictions operatin ...

and 18

stops Stop may refer to: Places *Stop, Kentucky, an unincorporated community in the United States * Stop (Rogatica), a village in Rogatica, Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina Facilities * Bus stop * Truck stop, a type of rest stop for truck dri ...

, was inaugurated on 5 June 2016, two months ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony, with regular service beginning the following day. For the first month of operation, it was

free of charge The English language, English adjective ''free'' is commonly used in one of two meanings: "at no monetary cost" (''gratis'') and "with little or no restriction" (''libre''). This ambiguity of ''free'' can cause issues where the distinction i ...

to ride, but only two trams were in service between noon and 15:00 on the section between Parada dos Museus in Praça Mauá and Santos Dumont Airport."Rio's trams will run for the Olympics: Brazil's wire-free modern tramway opens, part of a major revitalisation project for Rio de Janeiro" (July 2016). ''

Tramways & Urban Transit ''Tramways & Urban Transit'' ''(TAUT'' or ''T&UT)'', also known as ''Modern Tramway'', is a British monthly magazine about tramways and light rail transport, published continuously since 1938. Its content is orientated both to tramway enthusi ...

'', p. 244. UK: LRTA Publishing. The remainder of the line was opened and service was expanded to full-time operation on 12 July, although only 16 of the 18 stops on the line are in use. The network uses 32

Alstom Citadis The Alstom Citadis is a family of low-floor trams and light rail vehicles built by Alstom. , over 2,300 Citadis trams have been sold and 1,800 tramways are in revenue service throughout the world, with operations in all six inhabited continents ...

402

low-floor tram A low-floor tram is a tram that has no stairsteps between one or more entrances and part or all of the passenger cabin. The low-floor design improves the accessibility of the tram for the public, and also may provide larger windows and more airspac ...

s carrying 420 passengers each. They are bi-directional,

air-conditioned Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...

, have seven sections, and eight doors per side. The first five trams were built in

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...

's facility in

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. With ...

, France and shipped to Rio in July 2015, and the remaining 27 were built in Alstom's facility in

Taubaté Taubaté is a medium-sized city in the State of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. Location Its strategic location between the two most important Brazilian cities (São Paulo away, and Rio de Janeiro away), connected to both by the Presiden ...

, in the

state of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

. There are no

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipmen ...

installed along the entire route. Instead, Alstom has equipped approximately 80% of the line with its proprietary

ground-level power supply Ground-level power supply, also known as surface current collection or, in French, ''alimentation par le sol'' ("feeding via the ground"), is a concept and group of technologies whereby electric vehicles collect electric power at ground level fro ...

(APS) system. The remaining 20% uses on-board

supercapacitor A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, is a high-capacity capacitor, with a capacitance value much higher than other capacitors but with lower voltage limits. It bridges the gap between electrolytic capacitors and rechargeable ba ...

-based

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an accumulator or battery. Energy comes in ...

(SRS), also developed by Alstom. Trams are still equipped with pantographs for use in the maintenance facility. The remainder of the three-line, 28-km network will open in stages by the end of 2017. It is estimated that when the entire network is at full capacity, it would be able to eliminate 60% of buses and 15% of automobile traffic circulating in the city centre.

References

External links

VLT Carioca
{{Urban Rail systems in Brazil Public transport in Rio de Janeiro (city) Tram transport in Brazil Railway lines opened in 2016 750 V DC railway electrification

Overview

See also

References

External links