Brazil’s Bolsonaro gives go-ahead for monorail at São Paulo’s Guarulhos Airport

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After participating in demonstrations of supporters with anti-democratic slogans on the September 7 holiday in Brasilia and São Paulo, President Jair Bolsonaro should sign on Wednesday, September 8, an addendum to the contract of the concessionaire GRU Airport, manager of the international airport of Guarulhos, the largest in the country.

The purpose of the amendment is to authorize GRU Airport to begin work on a monorail dubbed PeopleMover, which is 2.6 kilometers long and connects the airport’s three passenger terminals to the Aeroporto station of the #13-Jade line of the São Paulo Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM), the São Paulo state government’s surface rail operator.

Currently, CPTM passengers heading to the airport need to make the trip in buses provided by GRU Airport, which is often uncomfortable – particularly for travelers with many suitcases.

The construction work, budgeted at almost R$300 (US$57.7) million, should begin in November, according to a recent projection by the Metropolitan Transportation Secretary of the São Paulo state government, Alexandre Baldy.

On another front, People Mover is also expected to benefit the environment by reducing the number of vehicles circulating in the vicinity of the airport and, consequently, carbon emissions and congestion on airport accesses.