Corcovado Rack Railway

Technical
Line length	3.8 km (2.36 mi)
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Highest elevation	710 m (2,329 ft)
Rack system	Riggenbach

The Corcovado Train (Portuguese: Trem do Corcovado) is a mountain railway in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, from Cosme Velho to the summit of the Corcovado Mountain at an altitude of 710 m (2,329 ft). The summit is known for its statue of Christ the Redeemer and its views over the city and beaches of Rio.

The line is 3.8 km (2.4 mi) long. It is a 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) gauge rack railway using the Riggenbach rack system. The line was opened by Emperor Dom Pedro II on the 9th October 1884. Initially steam hauled, the line was the first railway to be electrified in Brazil in 1910, and was re-equipped in 1980 with trains built by SLM of Winterthur in Switzerland.

It is one of the few remaining railways using three-phase electric power with two overhead wires, at 800 V 60 Hz.

Engineer's view

There are four trains, each of two cars. The trip takes approximately 20 minutes and departs every half hour, giving a capacity of 360 passengers per hour. Due to this limited capacity the wait at the entry station can be several hours. The line operates from 08:30 to 18:30.

The line has been ridden by many famous people, including Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Albert Einstein and Diana, Princess of Wales.

References

A sign at Paineiras station

• Article "Rio de Janeiro: City of contrasts, quality metro" by C.J.Wansbeck, in Tramways & Urban Transit magazine, March 2005, published by the Light Rail Transit Association.
• Web page http://www.pell.portland.or.us/~efbrazil/efcorc.html and descendants, retrieved 2 March 2005, 2100 GMT.
• Web page http://web.archive.org/web/20061008210035/http://www.corcovado.com.br/principal.asp?lingua=English and descendants, retrieved 2 March 2005, 2100 GMT.

External links

• Corcovado Rack Railway website
• Virtual Pictour with information @ The Rio de Janeiro Photo Guide