Rail Transport in Brazil - Tramways

Tramways

Steam-powered, horsedrawn and electric tramways operated in Brazil from 1859 until 1989, new systems were introduced in the 1980s and 90s in Rio de Janeiro and Campinas with no success, nevertheless, that may change soon as studies are being conducted to introduce tramway systems in Goiânia, and Curitiba now plans a "light metro" to replace "bus rapid transit (BRT)" in a major corridor, and in Cariri, the Cariri MetroTram that will run between Crato and Juazeiro do Norte is under construction.

History:

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and had a hundred tram systems, almost as many as all the other Latin American countries combined. It had one of the world's first tramways: a 1859 system in Rio de Janeiro predates street railway experiments in all European countries except France. Trams still operate in Rio today, over 130 years later. Brazil has one of the first steam-powered street railways and had the world's first steam locomotive designed specifically to work on the street. It had one of the world's first electric trams, Rio de Janeiro had electric streetcars before London, Paris, Rome, Madrid, Lisbon and any other city in Latin America. Niterói, Brazil, may have been the first place where the trams were successfully fed by storage batteries. Brazil had the largest collection of American streetcars built outside the United States, and had the world's largest foreign-owned street railway empire.

Five trams were still operating in 1989, the Santa Teresa and Corcovado lines in Rio de Janeiro; the Campos do Jordão line near São Paulo; the Itatinga line near Bertioga; and the tourist tram in Campinas. A sixth line, the Tirirical tram near São Luís, ceased operation in 1983 but may be reactivated.

Currently, there are vintage tramways operating in:

• Campinas – Heritage Tram
• Campos do Jordão – Interurban Tramway
• Itatinga – Non-public Tramway
• Rio de Janeiro – Santa Teresa Tram
• Santos – Heritage Tramway
• Belém – Heritage Tramway