Recife Metro

The Recife Metro (Portuguese: Metrô do Recife, Metrorec) is a rapid transit system serving the Metropolitan Region of Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. It is operated by the federally-owned Companhia Brasileira de Trens Urbanos (CBTU) and currently serves 29 stations, along 39.5 km of track. The system is complemented by two diesel-powered light rail lines with seven additional stations. In 2018, the combined system carried 102,089,000 passengers.

Characteristics
The contemporary metro, entirely aboveground, began construction in 1983, with funding from the World Bank. The metro consists of the Center Line (with two branches, Center-1 and Center-2) and the South Line, which all radiate outward from Recife station.

The stations were designed to include various non-written means of identification, as the Northeast Region has a substantial rate of illiteracy (13.9% as of 2019). In addition to audio messages announcing the name of the stop, there are visual cues: a different color is used on the walls of every station, and stations are uniquely identified with pictograms, similar to the Mexico City Metro.

Center Line trains leaving Recife station have one of two destinations: Center-1 trains run to Camaragibe, while Center-2 trains serve Jaboatão dos Guararapes. The two branches run on the same tracks between Recife station and Coqueiral station, reusing the route of an old railway track, where the metro system was built. The South line runs from Recife station parallel to the shore of the Atlantic.

The average distance between stations is of 1.2 km so the typical speed of the train is 40 km/h, but the maximum speed is 90 km/h. The gauge is (Irish gauge) and the trains are powered by overhead lines.

The system originally had a total of 25.2 km of route. After completion of the expansion of the network that occurred from February 2005 to March 2009, the metro grew to its current 39.5 km in length.

Diesel light rail
A 31.5 km long meter gauge light rail network (Veículo Leve sobre Trilhos, VLT) is integrated with the metro system. Two light rail lines link the city of Cabo de Santo Agostinho with Recife and provide a connection between the Center-1 and South lines through the suburbs. The rail lines are not electrified, and use diesel vehicles. Terminology varies, with the CBTU and media referring to it both as the VLT and as the Linha Diesel ('Diesel line'), the name of the former heavy rail service.

Bus integration
The system also includes several bus lines linked from the terminals of bus/metro integration designated SEI (Sistema Estrutural Integrado - "Integrated Structural System") through which passengers may continue their travel on the same ticket.

Metro
The metro is built to a gauge of, (Irish gauge). All three lines are elevated or at grade, and trains are powered by overhead lines. † Center-1 and Center-2 lines share a significant amount of track. The precise length of each branch has not been published.



Light rail
Metre gauge ( is used, in common with most other railways in Brazil. It is built at grade.