Testing begins on Rio’s Olympic metro line

Rio de Janeiro reached a milestone in its transport preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games on May 23, when the first test train traversed the new metro Line 4.

The 16-km (10-mile) six-station line links Jardim Oceânico in Barra da Tijuca with Nossa Senhora da Paz in Ipanema and will serve the Olympic Village with a journey time of 15 minutes between the two termini. The line is projected to carry 300,000 passengers per day in the first year of operation.

The first test train was hauled by a trackmobile at slow speed in both directions between General Osório and Jardim Oceânico stations. The test train is expected to begin operating under its own power soon when the 750 VDC third-rail electrification system is energized.

Construction began on the $2.6 billion project in June 2010. The line is being built by Concessionária Rio Barra, a consortium of Brazilian companies Odebrecht Queiroz Galvão and Carioco Engenharia under a 25-year build-operate-maintain concession. According to the consortium, the project is now 95% complete and the line is on course to open in time for the Olympics, which begin on August 5.

Services on the new line will be operated by a fleet of 15 six-car trains supplied by CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles, China, which are currently being used on Lines 1 and 2 pending the opening of Line 4.