ViaMobilidade to put US$290mn into 2 São Paulo train lines in 2023

Consortium ViaMobilidade, which operates metropolitan train lines No. 8 and No. 9 in São Paulo state, announced a plan to invest 1.5bn reais (US$289mn) in the two lines this year. 

The announcement came after a meeting between consortium representatives and state government officials, after the public prosecutor's office recently suggested that the government should cancel the concession contract due to poor services.

“Public transport users cannot wake up early and not be sure that they will have trains available. The operation of the system has to be safe and of high quality," state governor Tarcísio de Freitas said in a release.

During the meeting, Freitas called on the consortium to present plans and proposals for modernizing and improving services on both lines. After the meeting, the government announced that the concession contract with ViaMobilidade will remain in force.

The public prosecutor's office made the request to cancel ViaMobilidade's contract because the concessionaire, which is formed by CCR (80%) and RuasInvest (20%), has allegedly failed to solve a series of operational problems on both of the rail lines, including overcrowding of cars and train delays.