Santa Teresa Tram

arches The Santa Teresa tram route rises from downtown Rio de Janeiro and follows a circuit of Santa Teresa hill, offering a high-level view of the city. It passes over the high Carioca Aqueduct, a former aqueduct constructed in the 18th century Except for the section between the central terminus and the initial station (including the aqueduct), the route is shared by motor vehicles. Before the 1960s, Rio de Janeiro trams served the entire downtown area and all nearby suburbs, but since 1967 only the Santa Teresa line remained. Lastly, it offered two regular services, until 2011. Since the 2015 reopening, only one route has remained, until 2025, when the second regular service was restored. Current service The surviving two routes run from near Largo da Carioca (in the central area, at ) to Largo do Guimarães (Santa Teresa cultural center, at ), where the lines branch. One route continues southwestwards to Dois Irmãos (at the intersection of Rua Almirante Alexandrino with Rua Gomes Lopes, at ) and is long. The other runs northwest towards Largo das Neves (), which is known as Paula Mattos terminus. As of early 2020, when only the Dois Irmãos route was running, the service was operating Monday to Friday, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:40 p.m., Saturdays 10:00 to 5:40, and Sundays 11:00 to 4:40. The advertised headway was 25 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. When the Paula Mattos line reopened, in January 2025, it was scheduled to operate on Mondays to Fridays only, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and was reopened in 2025, runs from the same departure terminal to Largo do Guimarães and then, turning off of the main route, continued onward to terminate at Largo das Neves (). This terminus is indicated as Paula Mattos on the destination signs of the vintage tramcars, though the neighbourhood to which the name refers adopted the modernised spelling of Paula Matos many years ago. Its length — about two-thirds of which was shared with route 1 — is . Former services Silvestre line Starting in 1999 a few trips on the main (Dois Irmãos) route, on Saturdays only, had continued beyond Dois Irmãos, to Estação Silvestre (), a route section previously closed in 1966. However, operation of these trips became sporadic and is thought to have ceased by 2005 or 2006; the section of tramway between Dois Irmãos and Silvestre was closed definitively in 2008, after the theft of most of the overhead trolley wire. As of October 2023, it was planned to be reconstructed beginning in 2024, with new tracks and power poles. ==History==

If horse-drawn tramways are included, trams have operated in Rio de Janeiro since 1859 – continuously, apart from an 1866–1868 suspension. There are only four cities in the world in which trams have run longer: New Orleans (since 1835), Boston (1856), Mexico City and Philadelphia (both 1858). Rio de Janeiro's first tramway was a horsecar line on which service was inaugurated on 30 January 1859 (testing began in 1858). It ran from the funicular station east to Curvelo and west to Largo do França. This main Santa Teresa line was extended from Largo do França to Silvestre in 1890. The operating company's name changed in 1885 and again in 1891, but kept the name Companhia Ferro-Carril Carioca from 1891 until the beginning of 1964. Meanwhile, steam trams were reintroduced to Rio in 1882, this time on the Tijuca line, operated by the São Cristóvão tramway company. in 2010, viewed from the Chácara do Céu Museum 1892 saw the arrival of the first electric tram, on the Botanical Garden route. This was the first electrified street railway in all of Latin America, aside from a tram line that was extended in 1890 from Laredo, Texas, into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico (barely onto Latin American soil). It was quickly followed by other electric tram lines in Rio, including a Rua do Catete service in 1894 and two new lines in Flamengo in 1896. In 1896 electric trams replaced the horsecars on the Santa Teresa line, and the line was extended across the then-abandoned aqueduct between Santa Teresa and Santo Antonio hills (the Carioca Aqueduct), with the city terminus uniquely being built on the second floor of the company's office building on Largo da Carioca. During this rebuilding, the line's gauge was changed from to , which it retains to the present day. The Santa Teresa system's electrification was completed in 1897. By 1897 the Carioca railway had been completely electrified, making it the first totally electric tram system in South America. Electrification expanded rapidly over the next few decades and by 1928 the last horse-drawn trams had been withdrawn from service. -paved section of Rua Joaquim Murtinho in 2009 From around the 1950s, the Rio de Janeiro tram system went into decline, with many lines being closed, and by the end of the decade most of the tram routes of the former São Cristóvão system had gone. Closures continued through the 1960s, with the closure of the Alto da Boa Vista route in 1967, leaving only the Santa Teresa tram still running. The Silvestre Line had been cut back to Dois Irmãos in 1966; the section beyond was abandoned following storm damage. The Santa Teresa tram moved to its new modern terminal in 1975, in the gardens of the Petrobrás oil company, located on the roof of the company's parking garage. This was the Santa Teresa line's sixth successive city-centre terminus; it remains the system's terminal today. The system is currently operated by the Companhia Estadual de Engenharia de Transportes e Logística. Depots and terminals During the heyday of the Rio de Janeiro tram system, there were a number of depots (carhouses) and terminals. Depots at Cascadura, Penha, Méier, Alto da Boa Vista, Usina, Triagem, 28 de Setembro, Vila Isabel, São Cristóvão, Bonjardim, Rua Larga, Santo Antonio (neighbourhood), Largo do Machado, Largo dos Leoes and Cosme Velho are all now closed, and the only depot still operating is Santa Teresa itself. Most termini are also now closed, including Freguesia (Jacarepaguá), Taquara, Madureira, Irajá, Cavalcante, Inahauma, Caxambi, Piedade, Quintino Bocaiuva, Caju, Andarai, Santa Alexandrina, Estrela, Praia Vermelha, Leme, Gávea and Silvestre. Lastly, three termini are still served, near Largo da Carioca, at Dois Irmãos and Largo de Neves, and of these Largo da Carioca is the only one with a terminal building. One historic mule tram depot, at Vila Guarani, is preserved. ==Problems==

, seen in this 2009 photo, has now been banned. Prior to the 2011 suspension, the tram's fleet was outdated, with only five cars remaining in use on a regular basis, which were 50–60 years old. The cars were open-sided with wooden cross-benches, leading to street children often hopping on and off for free rides. Electricity to the cars is provided through roof-mounted trolley poles, and all cars are bi-directional. The old cars were built locally by the tramway companies, but several key components were supplied by foreign manufacturers: traction motors from English Electric, controllers from General Electric and trucks by the Peckham Manufacturing Company (Kingston, New York). They were built in the 1950s, but in appearance were similar to the cars that the line had used since the 1890s. By the 2000s, the cars and tracks were not in good repair, so the ride was slow and bumpy, though the carriages were regularly repainted in keeping with the tram's heritage image. The ride is good for sightseeing, but besides tourists, there are few regular paying passengers and so the tramway was increasingly running at a loss. The new replica trams, which began to arrive in 2014, have new safety features, but retain the appearance of the old cars, for heritage-preservation value and tourist appeal. They are bi-directional, open-sided cars, using trolley poles to collect current. ==Suspension and renovation==

Six people were killed and at least 50 injured when a tram derailed in late August 2011. All service was suspended indefinitely after the accident. An order for 14 new two-axle trams was placed in 2012 with a Brazilian manufacturer named T'Trans (based in Três Rios). but was delayed, and the first car was not delivered until August 2014. Reopening of the line was planned to take place in stages, starting with the section between Largo da Carioca and Largo do Curvelo. In May 2014, this was predicted to occur in August 2014, but was delayed. By 1 October 2014, only one new tramcar had been delivered, and it was making test runs. Service was extended from Largo do Curvelo to Largo do Guimarães on 28 December 2015, but without any expansion to the limited hours of operation. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, the hours of operation were temporarily expanded, to 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the frequency was doubled, to every 10 minutes. By that time, mid-2016, additional delays had caused the estimated date of restoration of service over the full line to Dois Irmãos to be postponed to at least December 2017. Service was finally restored through to Dois Irmãos in January 2019, in stages. In February 2018, a limited-service extension – served by only five trips per day – from Largo Guimarães to Praça Odylo came into operation, and on 22 October 2018 all service was extended to Largo do França. Of the order for 14 new replica-vintage tramcars that was placed with T'Trans in 2012, only eight cars had been delivered by mid-2019, numbered 16–23. , the old trams were in storage at the depot (carhouse), their fate undecided, and the new trams that had been delivered so far were stored in the Carioca terminal loop; the present status is unclear. ==See also==