By Lisa Flueckiger, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The metro station in Gávea, which will be a part of Rio’s new metro line 4 that connects Zona Sul (South Zone) and Barra da Tijuca, will not open in time for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Inauguration of the stop in Gávea is planned for December 2016, while the other stations are scheduled to open on time.
The opening of the line 4 metro stop in Gávea has been delayed due to changes in the project plan. Originally envisaged to have two floors with a future new line in mind, the station now will only have one floor.
Yet, it has been confirmed that all the other stops of the new line, which goes all the way to Barra da Tijuca’s Jardim Oceânico, are on time, even though there were some problems with the drilling machine and only 450 of the 5,000 meters between Ipanema and Gávea have so far been dug out.
The new metro will start its operations without the peak hours in June 2016. It will then have five stations: Jardim Oceânico, São Conrado, Antero de Quental, Jardim de Alah and Nossa Senhora da Paz before reaching existing Ipanema station General Osório.
In July 2016 the new line will then operate during the same hours as existing lines 1 and 2. However, passengers to Centro and Tijuca will still have to change trains in General Osório.
“The works on line 4 (except Gávea) will be finished in January 2016. Then we start operational test, without passengers, from Barra to São Conrado. In May 2016 tests between Leblon and Ipanema will be carried out. And starting from June 2016 the metro will transport passengers,” State Secretary of Transport Carlos Roberto Osorio explained.
The train cars that will run on the new line will be imported from China. The first fifteen cars are expected to reach Rio this month and the remaining ones will arrive during the year. The new cars will be tested on the existing metro lines 1 and 2.