World Cup host cities Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre have agreed deals to boost their train fleets ahead of the global football tournament in 2014.
FROTA BH, a consortium made up of European rolling stock manufacturers CAF and Alstom, has been awarded the Belo Horizonte contract by the Brazilian Urban Rail Company (Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos) a subsidiary of Federal Railways – the body that manages Brazil’s railroads.
The new EMUs will run on the Belo Horizonte Metro system – a 28km network that carries around 145,000 passengers every day.
Belo Horizonte, Beautiful Horizon in English, is one of 12 host cities for the FIFA World Cup 2014, as well as a sub-host city for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.
The consortium has also been awarded a $115 million contract for 15 new four-car trains by regional metro operator Trensurb for the city of Porto Alegre on the country’s southern tip.
The city’s Beira-Rio stadium is currently being refurbished ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
Both projects will be implemented at CAF’s plant in Brazil, in the Sao Paulo state.
