Porto Alegre Metro

Line 1 of the subway built in Porto Alegre was started in 1980, linking the center of Porto Alegre to cities to the north of the metropolitan area, as Canoas, Esteio, Sapucaia do Sul, São Leopoldo and Novo Hamburgo. The route was selected to relieve the heavy traffic of highway BR-116, the only option before the construction of this line, which already had serious problems with transit at the time.

The Line 1 was inaugurated on March 2, 1985, between the Central Public Market and Sapucaia do Sul, covering a route of 27 kilometers (16.8 mi) and 15 stations.

Extensions

In December 1997, the line was extended to Unisinos. A 3.8-kilometer (2.4 mi) extension to São Leopoldo-Museum was added in November 2000, after two months of trial service.

A further 9.3-kilometer (5.8 mi) extension to Novo Hamburgo opened in two phases: a 4.9-kilometer (3.0 mi), two station stretch opened in July 2012, followed by the final 4.4-kilometer (2.7 mi), three station stretch on December 21, 2013.

System characteristics

The Porto Alegre Rapid Transit has an average distance between each station of 2 kilometers (1.2 mi). The average speed of trains is 50 km/h (31 mph), while the maximum speed is 90 km/h (56 mph). The rail gauge is 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in) (Irish gauge), with power supplied to the trains by a 3,000 VDC catenary.

Airport connection people mover

Construction of a 0.814 kilometers (0.51 mi) (including maintenance track, it is 1.01-kilometer (0.63 mi) long) single-line fully automated people mover connecting the Estação Aeroporto (Airport Station) and Terminal 1 of Salgado Filho International Airport has been completed. The line has been operational since August 2013. It is a part of the Porto Alegre Metro system so users do not need to purchase a separate ticket. The journey time is 90 seconds. Depending on demand, one or two vehicles (150 or 300 passengers), will operate at any one time. Cost of construction was R$37.8 million with demand projected at 7,700 passengers per day. In the period 1 May 2014 to 7 September 2014, following the introduction of fare collection, the service averaged 3,165 passengers per day with a peak of 4,134 on 5 September 2014.

This is the first commercial installation in the world of the Aeromovel design, an atmospheric railway technology first developed in Porto Alegre in the late 1970s.