São Paulo, Brazil
 |
São Paulo, Brazil |
world.nycsubway.org · What's New · Leave Feedback
|
|
By Robert Ferreira (about) (contact)OverviewThe São Paulo Metrô is owned by the State of São Paulo and is operated by Companhia Do Metropolitano De São Paulo (São Paulo Subway Company). Simply known as the Metro to its commuters, the first line opened for revenue service 4 September 1974 on Line 1-Blue between Jabaquara and Vila Mariana. The Metro is the largest subway in South America and is considered to be one of the most advanced subways in the world. The system was based heavily on San Francisco's BART system and the influence is noticeable on Line 1's fleet, whose front ends are nearly identical to BART's original Rohr cars. Currently, the Metro consists of four lines, Line 1-Blue, Line 2-Green (opened 1991), Line 3-Red (1979), Line 5-Lilac (2002) and 52 stations. 25 stations are underground, 12 stations are elevated, and 15 stations are at ground level. The four lines have a total of 57.6 route km (35.7 route miles). The city's extensive bus network along with commuter rail help feed the Metro and vice versa, creating a comprehensive transportation network for the city. For example, the Metro station Pedro II has 67 bus routes that use the terminal adjacent to the station. Free transfers are available between the commuter rail system, CPTM, and the Metro, which effectively expands the rail system seamlessly to include the 200 km commuter rail network.. The operating hours of the Metro are from 4:30am to midnight. The Metro uses a fare pass system, which consists of a paper pass that is inserted into the turnstile and returned only if there are more rides available on it. The base fare is R$1.90 for a one-way trip and a two-way trip is at a discounted R$3.40. There are also passes available for 10 rides, monthly passes, and intermodal passes. In 2001, the Metro carried 714 million passengers. With it being a relatively small system, this means the Metro has the second highest ridership per route mile in the world, behind only Hong Kong. It is also one of the few subways in the world that operate with a profit. The Metro started making a profit in 1996, when revenues earned was 103.7% of the operating costs. In 2001, that figure was at 106.4%. Because the Metro operates like a private business, it has expanded its operations beyond providing subway service. The Metro earns revenue from sources such as leasing inter-city bus terminals, and three shopping malls at three Metro stations where it receives leasing payments from the stores. The company also is contracted for services for other subways in South America, including Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. Even with the high number of passengers, the SP Metro performs its task of transporting 2.3 million passengers on an average weekday without breaking a sweat. The trains are fully automated and controlled by a central computer. Trains on Lines 1 and 3 can reach speeds of 87 km/h, while trains on Line 2 reach speeds up to 75 km/h. Trains have one operator at the front of the train to oversee operation. Doors can be opened and closed by the computer, or the T/O may manually operate them. Closed circuit cameras monitor the platform to make sure the doors are clear. If the train needs to be operated in manual, the maximum permitted speed is 20 km/h. The platform length for each station is 136m (446 ft), enough for a six-car train. Average design capacity is 1350 passengers/train, with a crush capacity of 2000 passengers/train. A total of 98 trains are used for peak service on Lines 1-3. Headways on the two busiest lines, Lines 1 and 3, can be as little as 100 seconds. The trains are maintained at three yards, at Jabaquara (Line 1), Corinthians-Itaquera (Line 3), and Capão Redondo (Line 5). There is also a small maintenance facility at the end of Line 2, Delamare Yard. On Lines 1-3, the track gauge is a non standard 1600 mm, the third rail is 750V DC and under running. For Line 5, the track gauge is 1435 mm and it uses overhead pantograph, precluding any connection to the rest of the system. The system has a fleet of 702 cars arranged in six-car permanently coupled sets. Cars dimensions are 21.2m (70 ft) long, 3.17m (10.4 ft) wide, and 3.55m (11.6 ft) high. There are four doors per side on each car.. There are no end doors in any of the subway cars on Lines 1-3 and there are end doors on Line 5's fleet. Five car orders make up the fleet:
Construction of the Metro consisted of cut and cover type tunnel early in the system's history. Lines 1 and 3 are mostly of this type. Later on, tunnel boring machines were used in the construction of Line 2 and nearly all tunnel construction now uses this type of method. Stations in the system are attractive, modern, safe and clean. Stations typically have either marble or rubber flooring and concrete is the dominant building material. The stations are designed to move a large amount of people quickly. For example, the busiest station in the system, Sé, is designed to handle a peak of 100,000 people an hour. Most of the typical side platform stations can handle 20,000 people an hour. A curiosity of the Metro that enables such large passenger flows are the separate platforms for boarding and disembarking at busy transfers stations. This is not only with other SP Metro lines, but with the CPTM commuter rail as well. Stations with this are configured with two side platforms for boarding and one island platform for disembarking with two tracks between them. A careful observer will notice that one station, Republica on Line 3, have the three-platform setup with no transfer. This is because a new subway line is planned to intersect at this station some time in the future. There are plans for expansion that include converting existing commuter rail lines, constructing all new lines as well as extending current routes. Links and References
Line DescriptionsLinha 1-Azul/Line 1-Blue. Originally called the North-South line, this was the first subway in the system. It opened 4 September 1974 between stations Jabaquara and Vila Mariana. The line was then extended to Santana in 1975, and the final segment to Tucuruvi was opened in 1998. Line 1 has 23 stations and is 20.2 km long. Most of the side platform stations between Jabaquara and São Bento look very similar using concrete and the same colorful patterns on the walls. One feature this line shares is with Line 2-Green is at the stations Ana Rosa and Paraíso. At Ana Rosa, the station is set up in a 4 track, 2 island platform layout, with a wall separating the two lines. At Paraíso, the Line 1 northbound track is on the upper level by itself. On the lower level, Line 1 southbound shares an island platform with Line 2 northbound and Line 2 southbound is on a side platform. The line's fleet consists of 306 cars made Budd and Mafersa. The front ends these cars look remarkably similar to San Francisco's BART Rohr cars, mainly because the system was based heavily on BART. The front ends used to be white, but they were painted blue in the late 90s. The cars were originally in two car pairs, but they were since permanently coupled in six-car sets. For peak service, the line uses 45 trains running at 109 second headways. Maximum speed allowed is 87 km/h. 890,000 passengers use this line everyday. Linha 2-Verde/Line 2-Green. The first segment opened 25 January 1991 between Paraíso and Cosolação. In 1992, Ana Rosa and Clinicás opened. Sumaré and Vila Madalena began service in 1998. Unlike Line 1, the stations on this line are different from each other. The station Sumaré is like Atlanta's MARTA Civic Center station: both are elevated above a highway and run parallel underneath a surface street. The terminal station Vila Madalena has a water leakage problem and is currently being repaired, the westbound side platform has been fixed, and the eastbound platform still needs work. The line uses 11 trains for peak service and it borrows Alstom cars based at Line-3 Red's yard, but some are stored at Line 1's yard for faster access to Line 2. A few Line 1 trains are also occasionally used when needed. Headway is at 120 seconds during rush hour. Currently, the line is 7 km long with 8 stations. Plans call for the line to be extended to the east by 8.6 km and 8 stations. 75 km/h is the maximum speed. Right now, the line carries approximately 250,000 passengers a day, and the projected ridership of the completed line is at 536,000 passengers per day. Linha 3-Vermelha/Line 3-Red. Previously known as the East-West line, the name Line 3 is sort of a misnomer because this was the second line to open. The first segment opened 10 March 1979 with only three stations: Sé, Pedro II and Brás. One or two station segments were added until the final two stations, Marechal Deodoro and Barra Funda, were completed in 1988. Most of the line is above ground, unlike Lines 1 and 2. Between Sé and Marechal Deodoro is the only major tunnel section. This line acts as the local service to Line 6-Orange's express run. Severe congestion on this line called for Line 6 to be built. Because of the overcrowding, the Metro has taken step to move passengers in and out of trains as quickly as possible. During rush hour, many stations on this line have several station supervisors controlling the flow. This line is 22 km long and has 18 stations. During rush hour, 42 trains run every 100 seconds. Three car orders from 1982-1999 make up the fleet of this line for a total of 282 cars plus 66 Alstom cars used on Line 2. Top speed for this line is the same as Line 1, 87 km/h. Line 3 sees around 850,000 people everyday. Together, Line 3, Line 6 and Lines E and F of CPTM make up the East Corridor and over 1.2 million people use this important corridor everyday. Linha 4-Amarela/Line 4-Yellow. Once completed, Line 4 will be unique from Lines 1-3 but similar to Line 5. The track gauge will be the international standard of 1435 mm, while Lines 1-3 have a wider 1600 mm gauge. Instead of a third rail power supply, it will have an overhead canterary supply. This precludes any possibly of a track connection to Lines 1-3. Perhaps the biggest highlight of this line is that this line will be privately financed. For the first 20 years of operation, it will be owned and operated by a private company, reaping all profits from it. After the 20 years, it will be turned over to the state and be operated by the Metro. Construction of Line 4 started in 2002, and will be built in three phases. Phase I will open in 2006 and will be 12.8 km long from Luz and extending to Vila Sonia, with a total of six stations: Luz, República, Paulista, Pinheiros and Butanta. After Butanta, the line will continue for several kilometers to the yard without any stations. The second phase will be completed in 2009 and will consist of building infill stations in between Phase I stations and the Yard. Phase II stations are: Higienopolis, Oscar Freire, Fradique, Faria Lima, Três Poderes and Morumbi. Phase III is not yet set in stone, so a completion date has not been set. The three stations planned are: Vila Sonia, Jardim Jussara and Taboão da Serra. For the first phase, 13 trains will be used for peak service. Trains on this line will be either 6 cars long. In the second phase, 21 trains will be needed. Projected ridership for the first phase will be an impressive 800,000 riders per day. Recall that the first phase is only six stations long! For the second phase, the number of riders will grow to nearly 1,000,000 customers per day. Ridership for when the third phase is completed has not yet been determined. Linha 5-Lilás/Line 5-Lilac. Line 5 is all-new, but what separates it from Lines 1-4 is that it was built by the CPTM, with the Metro operating it since day one, 20 October 2002. While it was under contrustion, it was dubbed Line G. In many of the commuter train, maps still show this line as Line G. So far, only Phase I has opened for service, which consists of 9.4 route km and six stations: Capão Redondo, Campo Limpo, Vila das Belezas, Giovanni Gronchi, Santo Amaro and Largo 13. The station Santo Amaro has the distinction of being the first and only subway station in the world that is on a cable-stay bridge. Like Line 4, this line has a track gauge of 1435 mm and has an overhead canterary power supply. Phase II will add 11.5 km and 10 stations to reach Santa Cruz on Line 1. When the extension of Line 2 is completed, Line 5 will be extended by one station to reach Line 2. Currently this line and Line 7 aren't connected to the rest of the Metro system. Once Phase I of Line 4 and Phase II of Line 5 are completed will there be a connection to the rest of the system. The maximum speed allowed on this line is 80 km/h. When Phase II is completed the projected ridership is over 500,000 passengers per day. Linha 6-Laranja/Line 6-Orange. Also known as the East Express, Line 6 is a CPTM line that is in the process of being handed over to the Metro. Line 6 was former commuter Line E which runs from Brás Terminal to Guaianazes. It was designed to relieve the overcrowded Line 3-Red by allowing passengers living farther out bypass the crowds at the intermediate stations. Line 6 extends east of Line 3's service area for passengers who would otherwise use the already busy Cornithians-Itaquera terminal. Currently, the line has six stations and ends at Brás. Before conversion to Metro, this line used to have intermediate stations between Cornithians-Itaquera and Tatuapé. You can still see the abandoned platforms while passing by. Because these stations duplicated the stations on Line 3, they were abandoned in order to provide express service. The line is being extended 7 km and two stations to the major CPTM and Metro stations of Luz and Barra Funda under the Project Integration program, which is improving the connections between all three major downtown train terminals, Brás, Luz and Barra Funda. Once completed, the line will be 29 km long with 8 stations. The ridership of this line is about 300,000 per day. Linha 7-Celeste/Line 7-Sky Blue. Line 7 is former commuter rail Line C that is being converted to Metro operation. Having 24 km and 15 stations, this route follows along the River Pinherios for its whole run, except for the two northernmost stations. Seven of the stations are all-new: Hebraica-Rebouças, Cidade Jardim, Vila Olímpia, Berrini, Morumbi, Granja Julieta and Socorro. Currently, the line handles 53,000 a day, but when the line is connected to the rest of the system, it will grow to 150,000 passengers a day. CPTM Commuter Rail. The CPTM, which stands for Companhia Paulista dos Trens Metropolitanos (Paulista Metropolitan Train Company), runs commuter rail service within the metropolitan area. The system is made up of two former railroad companies; the São Paulo State owned Ferrovia Paulista S/A (Fepasa) and the federally owned Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos (CBTU, Brazilian Urban Train Company). The CBTU still operates other intercity trains to and from São Paulo and in the rest of Brazil. The network extends for 275.9 km route km (171 route mi), and carries 360 million people per year, with over 1.2 million per weekday. There are six lines in the network: Lines A, B, C, D, E and F. Line E is the busiest line with 310 thousand riders per weekday. Former Fepasa routes are Lines B and C and former CBTU routes are Lines A, D, E and F. Line E from Brás to Guaianazes is being converted to Metro Line 6, and nearly everyone who rides the extension from Guaianazes to Estudantes transfers at Guaianazes for a Line 6 train. Most of Line C is being converted to Metro Line 7, and now the line is reduced to a four station shuttle extending south of Jurubatuba. At first glance, the system could be mistaken for a subway, most schedules are posted by just the headway, there is a flat fare (with some exceptions), nearly all trains have bench seating with only a few longitudinal seats, four doors per side on each car, and crowding that is more typical of a subway than commuter rail. The distinction between the Metro and the CPTM is also blurred because there are many points where you can transfer between the two systems for free. However, this is still a railroad and it's common to see freight trains passing through stations. |
