RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Line 3 of the VLT (Light Rail Vehicle) of Rio de Janeiro started operating yesterday, October 26th. It is now possible to use the mode to transit from Central Station train terminal to Santos Dumont airport, in a journey that lasts approximately 18 minutes with ten stops.
Mayor Marcelo Crivella was present at the start of operations. “This is an investment of more than R$1 billion (US$250 million) so that we can have, in the center of the city, transportation with no carbon emissions and no global warming,” said Crivella.
Three stops were named after icons of African culture: Cristiano Ottoni-Pequena África, Camerino-Rosas Negras and Santa Rita-Pretos Novos. The names, according to the mayor’s office, were chosen in consensus with the National Historical and Artistic Heritage Institute (IPHAN) and bodies of the black movement and civil society.
The expansion of the VLT is part of the process of revitalizing Rio’s port area, which has uncovered archaeological sites that preserve traces of Brazil’s slave-like past. In the excavations to lay the tracks of Line 3, foundations and objects of a shop selling slaves, which operated in the nineteenth century, were found. Traces of what would have been one of the first cemeteries for newly arrived Africans were also found.
Another finding during the works on Line 3 was 15 skeletal remains. The São Joaquim Church, destroyed in 1904 amidst the urban reforms of mayor Francisco Pereira Passos, was located where the bodies were found.
The delivery of the new line was the last planned in the Rio’s VLT project, which includes 28 kilometers of rails. According to the municipality, 50 million passengers have already been carried on 32 trains that have been running since the inauguration in June 2016.