China sells trains to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The third shipment of trains acquired in China by the government of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state arrived in the city’s port on Sunday and after testing should begin operating next week, Agência Brasil reports.
The trains were obtained from the state-owned China CNR Corporation Limited and comprise four trains with four carriages each. Each train can carry 1,200 passengers.
The new trains are equipped with air conditioning, an automatic derail detection system and LCD screens in carriages, as well as internal and external TV cameras enabling the driver to see platforms and carriage interiors.
The Supervia company serves nearly 640,000 passengers per day, a number that should rise significantly when the new trains begin operating, said the state’s Secretary of Transportation, Tatiana Carius.
The renovation of Rio de Janeiro’s railway system began in 2009 when 30 trains were purchased. A further 70 were subsequently acquired and will continue to arrive at an average pace of four per month.
Supervia has operated the urban train service of Rio de Janeiro’s metropolitan area since 1 November 1998. Its shareholder control was assumed in November 2010 by Odebrecht TransPort, an Odebrecht group company specialising in urban transportation, road concessions, integrated logistics systems and airports.  MDT/Macauhub