Novo Hamburgo - Metro

Metro

The history of the railways of Rio Grande do Sul date back to 1866 with proposals for construction in the Sinos River Valley region. On April 14, 1874, the first train track between Porto Alegre and Sao Leopoldo was completed. This was constructed by a British Company called The Porto Alegre & New Hamburg Brazilian Railway Company Limited. Owned by Johan Mac Ginity.

The first train arrived in Novo Hamburgo on 1 January 1876. The station was named Novo Hamburgo Station. The railway did not go through the village of Hamburguer Berg, the station was built some 3 km away thus, a new urban area began to develop around the railway station. Only in 1882 the Novo Hamburgo station was connected at the village which was named as Hamburguer Berg, this line eventually was extended to Canela in 1922.

In 1919, the Novo Hamburgo station was renamed Borges de Medeiros, reflecting the anti-German sentiment caused by Great War and also Hamburg Berg was renamed Genuine Sampaio. However, Novo Hamburgo station returned to the original name in 1920 and Hamburguer Berg received its current name of Hamburgo Velho.

In 1964, the Novo Hamburgo to Taquara line was closed, leaving Novo Hamburgo station as the end point of the line. In late 1966, the rest of section, Rio dos Sinos to Novo Hamburgo stations was abolished and the station was deactivated.

In 2008 the Federal government authorized the expansion train services to Novo Hamburgo. The works started in early 2009 and is expected to be completed 2012. This project includes the construction of an additional 9.3 kilometres and four new stations: Rio dos Sinos, in the municipality of São Leopoldo, Liberdade, Fenac and Novo Hamburgo, in the city of Novo Hamburgo