Rio de Janeiro train operator SuperVia has unveiled the first of 10 new trains being assembled in Brazil for the city’s suburban rail network.
A total of 80 new Alstom cars are being assembled at a site in Rio’s North Zone, with the first train to go into revenue service in March following a period of testing.
Revealing the new train, SuperVia also announced that it expects to receive all of the new vehicles in the next four years – two years earlier than had originally been suggested.
SuperVia and the state government are both investing heavily in renewing the network’s train fleet. By September 2014, the first of 60 electrical-multiple units (EMUs) funded by the state government will have arrived in Rio from Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CNR.
Rio’s deputy governor and coordinator of infrastructure Luiz Fernando Pezão said it was a “great joy” to see Rio de Janeiro’s rail industry being “reborn”.
