São Paulo Metro

The São Paulo Metro (Portuguese: Metrô de São Paulo, [meˈtɾo dʒi sɐ̃w ˈpawlu]), commonly called the Metrô, is one of the rapid transit companies serving the city of São Paulo, alongside the São Paulo Metropolitan Trains Company (CPTM), Via Quatro and Via Mobilidade, all four forming the largest metropolitan rail transport network of Latin America. The six lines in the metro system operate on 104.4 kilometres (64.9 mi) of route, serving 91 stations. The metro system carries about 4,200,000 passengers a day.
Metro itself is far from covering the entire urban area in the city of São Paulo and only runs within the city limits. However, it is complemented by a network of metropolitan trains operated by CPTM and ViaMobilidade, which serve the city of São Paulo and the São Paulo Metropolitan Region. The systems combined form a 380 km (240 mi) long network, all accessible via one single ticket. The metropolitan trains differs from Metro because it also serves other municipalities around São Paulo with larger average distance between stations and freight trains operating in some lines.
Considered the most modern in Latin America, the system is the first to install platform screen doors at a station, and use communications-based train control with lines 4 and 15 being fully automated. Line 15 is a monorail line that partially opened for service in 2014 and is the first high capacity monorail line of Latin America. The São Paulo Metro and CPTM both operate as State-owned companies and have received awards in the recent past as one of the cleanest systems in the world by ISO 9001. The São Paulo Metro was voted Best Metro Americas at the MetroRail 2010 industry conference and has been frequently chosen as one of the best metro systems in the world by specialist media outlets such as CNN and Business Insider, being the only system in Latin America to make the list.
The Companhia do Metropolitano de São Paulo (Metrô) was founded on April 24, 1968. Eight months later, work on the initial North–South line (now Line 1 - Blue) was initiated. In 1972, the first test train trip occurred between Jabaquara and Saúde stations. On September 14, 1974, the segment between Jabaquara and Vila Mariana entered into commercial operation.
The first line, Norte/Sul (North/South), later renamed "Blue Line" or Line 1 - Blue, was opened on September 18, 1972, with an experimental operation between Saúde and Jabaquara stations. Commercial operations started on September 14, 1974, after an eight-year "gestation" period that began in 1966, under Mayor Faria Lima's administration. Expansion of the metro system includes new lines. As of late 2004, construction began on a US$1 billion, 12.8 km (8.0 mi) all-underground line (Line 4 - Yellow), with eleven stations, aimed at transporting almost one million people per day. By 2004, Line 2 was also being expanded, with two new stations open in 2006 and another one in 2007.
A 10.5-kilometre (6.5 mi) expansion of Line 5 was completed in 2018.
As of January 2025, tickets cost R$5.20. In 2006, the São Paulo Metro system has started to use a smart card, called "Bilhete Único" (or "Single Ticket" in English).
The metro system consists of six color-coded lines: Line 1 (Blue), Line 2 (Green), Line 3 (Red), Line 4 (Yellow), Line 5 (Lilac) and Line 15 (Silver), operating from Sunday to Saturday, from 4:40 AM to midnight. Line 15 (Silver), is a high-capacity monorail, the rest being standard metro lines.
The six lines achieved an average weekday ridership of 5.3 million in 2019. On 14 September 2019, Metrô recorded the highest ever ridership figure of 5.5 million on a single business day, caused by the recent expansion of some lines. The Metro provided 1.49 billion rides over the course of 2019.
In May 1977, Metro assumed the administration and commercial utilization of the Inter-City Jabaquara Intermunicipal Terminal, and inaugurated, in May 1982, the modern Inter-city Tietê Bus Terminal, replacing the former Júlio Prestes Terminal.
This agreement established that Metro would be in charge of the studies for the planning, implementation, and operation of passenger transportation in the municipal district of São Paulo, either directly or through third parties.
Later, the other inter-city bus terminals were integrated into the system, such as Bresser, in January 1988, and Palmeiras-Barra Funda, in December 1989. In January 1990 the inter-city bus terminals were outsourced by Metrô, which through public bidding, contracted Consortium Prima for the administration and commercial utilization of the 4 inter-city bus terminals of the city of São Paulo. This contract included the responsibility for maintenance and conservation of the existing installations, as well as of the expansion and modernisation of the terminals.
The first cars started operating in 1974, the same year the company's commercial activities were initiated. This model was named A Stock, whose cars received the numbers of 1001 to 1306 (51 trains of 6 cars each). They were designed in United States by the Budd Company, and the national rolling stock manufacturer Mafersa did the final assembly. The model was based on the Class A trains from the Bay Area Rapid Transit system, even using the same Westinghouse 1460 series chopper traction controls, and was to be used along the north–south line, now known as Line 1 - Blue. The initially they operated with two car trains with cars added as demand increased, up to a maximum of six cars. All of them have a pair of electric motors and a cab.
Today, this stock is known as "A stock". The entire "A stock" was planned to be phased out by the beginning of 2015, as the recent modernization processes saw them being converted into two different stocks: I and J. The last A stock train was withdrawn from service in February 2018.
To reduce the manufacturing costs, the Cobrasma company decided to provide, for the East-West Line, now Line 3. Trains had cabs only and made use of more advanced ventilation and maintenance systems. This stock was known by the name of "C". The batch of trains designed for this line were produced by two different national companies, Cobrasma and Mafersa (whose trains got named as "D"). The trains entered service between 1984 and 1986 on Line 3 and remained there for their entire service lives, although in their final years, some of the D stock trains were transferred to Line 1 where they ran with the older A stock trains.
The only difference between the two is the front mask and some structural framework. Their original technical nomenclature was 300. According to it, the C stock was numbered from 301 (C01) to 325 (C25), and the D stock had trains numbered from 326 (D26) to 347 (D47). The C stock trains were already refurbished as K stock and the D stock was refurbished and created the L cars. The refurbishment program for the entire stock of A, C and D trains was completed in 2018.
Today the rolling stock of the São Paulo Metro consists of 11 stocks, 232 trains and 1,419 cars and it is divided as follows:
Metro's security agents have police powers and in case of need they will provide assistance. All police matters that occur within the system are directed to the police station of the subway system, Delegacia de Polícia do Metropolitano de São Paulo (DELPOM), located at Palmeiras-Barra Funda station.
Several conventional metro and monorail lines are currently under construction or under project.