The Santa Teresa Tram, or Tramway (, ), is a historic tram line in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It connects the city's centre with the primarily residential, inner-city neighbourhood of Santa Teresa, in the hills immediately southwest of downtown. It is mainly maintained as a tourist attraction and is nowadays considered a heritage tramway system, having been designated a national historic monument in 1985. The line has a very unusual gauge: . The main line is long.
Having run continuously since its opening in 1877 (except for a 2011–15 suspension), it is one of the oldest street railway lines in the world. It has been electrically powered since 1896, being the oldest electric railway in all of Latin America. For many years it was also the only remaining metropolitan tram system in Brazil. The only other original tram systems in the country to have survived past 1971 are the Campos do Jordão interurban tram/light rail line, which continues to operate today, and the Itatinga line (near Bertioga), a rural and non-public tram line which had ceased operation as a tramway by 2017. All other cities closed their systems by 1971 (Santos being the last), but since that time, three towns, Belém, Campinas and Santos, have reinstated trams as heritage services. Rio de Janeiro opened a modern light rail/tram system in 2016.
All service on the line was suspended starting in August 2011 as a result of a serious accident, but limited service resumed in July 2015 with new tramcars and with passengers no longer allowed to stand on the running boards. Following studies after the 2011 suspension, it was decided to buy new trams that would be replicas of the previous vintage fleet, and an order for 14 such cars was placed in 2012. Rebuilding of the line then commenced, and was continuing in late 2014, at which time reopening was scheduled for 2015, in time for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In July 2015, limited service resumed between Carioca Station and Largo do Curvelo, and was extended from the latter point to Largo do Guimarães in December 2015, making the length of route in operation about .
Work continued slowly, and at times intermittently, on restoration of additional sections of the main route to Dois Irmãos. In February 2018, just five trips per day were extended from Largo Guimarães to Praça Odylo, and then on 22 October 2018 all service was extended to Largo do França. The full route between Largo da Carioca and Dois Irmãos was finally restored to operation and passenger service in January 2019.
Routes
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 and electric trams used to run beneath it. Except for 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.
Current service
The surviving route runs from near Largo da Carioca (in the central area, at ) to Dois Irmãos (at the intersection of Rua Almirante Alexandrino with Rua Gomes Lopes, at ) and is long. As of early 2020, 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.
Special service
Just two trips per day operate on a route between Carioca terminal and Rua Muratóri, which has only of route – all of which is bi-directional single-track – not shared with the main Carioca–Dois Irmãos service. These were departing Carioca at 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. in late 2018 and early 2019. Having closed in 1966, the short branch was reopened in late 2015 and formally "inaugurated" in January 2016, but actual public service was not introduced until sometime later in 2016 and has been very limited and intermittent since then.
Former services
Paula Matos line
The second route, which last operated in 2011, ran 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 was always 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 — was .