Brazil’s modernization plan includes Chinese trains

Global Business

Brazil is on track to receive 100 new passenger trains from China over the next two years. They will operate in Rio de Janeiro as part of the city’s much-needed railway system renovation.

The new trains are part of a $1 billion modernization plan. They come with impressive features, such as an automatic derailment detection system. Each train can carry 1,200 passengers.

The plan also includes a new control operations center that monitors Rio’s railway network. Rio’s train service is used by 620,000 passengers per day. That number is expected to grow with the arrival of new Chinese trains, as well as in 2016 when the city hosts the Summer Olympics.

Thirty trains made in China are already in service in the city, and 70 are set to arrive by 2016.

CCTV America’s Lucrecia Franco reports.

For more on global railway investment, editor-in-chief at Railway Age magazine William C. Vantuono joined Biz Asia America.