Belo Horizonte Metro

Belo Horizonte Metro (Metrô de Belo Horizonte) is a rapid transit system serving the city of Belo Horizonte, in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. The system has one 28.1 km line which serves 19 stations. The Metro carried 54.4 million passengers in 2019, or approximately 150,000 passengers per day. The system is operated by Comporte Participações (Metrô BH). Two more lines are planned.

History
The first section of the metro opened on 1 August 1986. At its opening, the Metro was 10.8 km long and had six stations with three trains in operation. In 1987 the line was extended to Central station and two more trains were brought into use. The line was extended again several times in the mid-1990s, and finally once more in 2002 adding the last 5 of the current 19 stations.

Further trains were delivered in the 1990s, with the last being delivered in December 2001, bringing the total number of trains to 25.

Network
The metro system is formed by one line, beginning at Eldorado station and ending at Vilarinho. The metro spans 19 stations and 28.1 kilometers.

System characteristics
The trains are supplied by 3000 V DC overhead wires, and have a commercial speed of 40 km/h with a maximum speed of 80 km/h. Track gauge is (broad gauge).

Future service
In early 2014, it was announced that the Belo Horizonte Metro will be expanded with two new lines by 2018, with new train cars, and two additional stations added to Line 1.

In September 2015, ten new train cars was introduced officially.

No progress was made in respect of expansion of the network until September 2020, when the Brazilian government committed 1.2 billion reais of funding for the construction of Line 2.

Planned expansion proposed by State Government
On December 22, 2022, the Belo Horizonte metro began to be operated by the Comporte Participações consortium (or simply Metrô BH), through an auction held on the São Paulo Stock Exchange. The new operator will be responsible for the operation, management and maintenance of the metro rail network for 30 years, in addition to the revitalization and expansion interventions of the current Line 1 (expansion to Novo Eldorado) and the construction of Line 2 (new transfer station Nova Suiça between Calafate and Gameleira and expansion to Barreiro), with resources coming from the federal government, the government of Minas Gerais and a fine arising from the judicial agreement with Vale S.A. due to the socio-environmental damages that occurred in the Brumadinho dam disaster in 2019.

The transfer of the system to the winning consortium took place on March 23, 2023. The Line 1 expansion and construction of Line 2 is currently scheduled to be completed between the years 2026 and 2029.