Federal District Metro (Brazil)

The Federal District Metro (Portuguese: Metrô do Distrito Federal, commonly called Metrô DF) is the rapid transit system of the Federal District, in Brazil. It is operated by Companhia do Metropolitano do Distrito Federal and was opened in 2001. Currently, Federal District's Metro has 27 stations on two lines, and it runs for 42.38 km. The system passes through 6 Administrative regions of the Federal District, those being Brasília (Plano Piloto), Guará, Águas Claras, Taguatinga, Ceilândia, and Samambaia.

The metro covers the Federal District's main cities. Its main problem is the sheer distance between many stations (caused by overall low density, suburban profile for such system), making it only a small part of the transit system of the Federal District and mostly an intercity service, with exceptions in Brasília and Ceilândia. The administrative region of Águas Claras is well-served by the system, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of the Federal District and the most dense.

History
The construction of the Federal District Metro began on 7 January 1992, and its first sections started operating in 1999, but because of a backlog of work, the metro was not opened at its originally-scheduled date and time (21 April 1994 at 17:00). Work was finally finished in the beginning of 2001, and commercial service began on 24 September of that year.

During the first months, the metro operated only from 10:00 to 16:00 over only 32 km of the network of total of 41 km. Five more stations were opened in 2008: 108 South, Guariroba, Ceilândia Centro, Ceilândia Norte and Ceilândia Sul.

102 South and 112 South stations opened in 2009; Guará station opened in 2010. The 106 Sul Cine Brasília station and 110 Sul stations were opened on 16 September 2020.

Operations
It operates from 06:00 to 23:30 Mondays to Saturdays, from 07:00 to 19:00 on Sundays. The metro's commercial speed is 45 km/h. The track gauge is and powered by a third rail. Its stations are equipped with stairs and lifts.

Tickets and fares
The access to Metrô-DF is controlled by electronic entry and exit barriers. To travel on the metro, tickets are unitary, for a single trip, or by a magnetic card, which is inserted into the ticket barriers. The card can be recharged.

Lines
The Green and Orange Lines both begin at the Central station, under the Pilot Plan Bus Station in the centre of Brasília and run parallel up until the Águas Claras station. The Orange Line goes south to Samambaia. The Green Line follows to Ceilândia. The metro runs underground in Brasília (with the exception of the Asa Sul station) and through the Central Sector of Taguatinga, at Praça do Relógio station. Elsewhere, it runs on the surface.

Rolling stock
Its increasing use indicated the need to expand the original fleet of 20 four–car Alstom Metropolis trainsets. To deal with the increasing demand, 12 new four–car trainsets were purchased from Alstom, with the first arriving in the Federal District in June 2010, leading to a fleet of 32 trains in total.

All trains go through a period of engagement and dynamic tests, where all components of traction, braking, signaling and communication will be assessed. Therefore, it takes 30 days for effective operation of new cars. The new fleet incorporates a number of advanced technologies including a modern drive system, which reduces the technical flaws of trains and reduce the waiting time at stations. Before the Alstom trains were put into operation, the Federal District Metro carried about 160,000 passengers per day.

With the new Alstom Metropolis trainsets in operation, the Federal District Metro's headways can be reduced from four and a half minutes to three minutes, and its capacity will nearly double to 300,000 passengers per day. , all 12 of the new trainsets had been delivered and were in service. The Federal District Metro invested a total of R$ 325 million for the purchase of the new trains, modernizing the aging fleet, and purchasing spare parts. R$260 million was financed by BNDES, with the remainder being paid by the federal government.

Expansion plans
In 2009, the originally-planned first stage of the new transport system in the Federal District was inaugurated. A metre gauge light rail line was planned to depart from rail Terminal South and cut over Estrada Parque Polícia Militar road and travel south to 502 Nouth, a distance of 8.7 km. It is one of three sections provided for in an online project to integrate a set of measures developed by the Government of the Federal District to revitalize the W3. The complete light rail line route would link rail Terminal North to the Brasília International Airport (Aeroporto Internacional Juscelino Kubitschek).

This original Terminal South stretch was planned to be ready for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Work on this first phase started in 2009, under the company's management of the Federal District Metro. However, work on the line was suspended in April 2011 because of a fraudulent billing process, and the line was not ready for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, but it is still included in longer-term planning.

The more recent priority for the line rail line project was a planned 6.5 km, 7-station section including the section between rail Terminal South and the Brasília International Airport. The section was budgeted at R$276.9 million. The light rail line project was restarted, with the bidding process on the section from 2013.