The Corcovado Rack Railway () is a mountain rack railway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from Cosme Velho to the summit of Corcovado at an elevation of . The summit is famous for its giant statue of Christ the Redeemer and for its views over the city and beaches.

History

left|thumb|Construction of the rail line c. 1884

thumb|left|250px|Paineiras station c. 1897, well before the construction of [[Christ the Redeemer (statue)|Christ the Redeemer]]

The railway was opened by Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil on 9 October 1884. Initially hauled by steam locomotives, the line was electrified in 1910, a first in Brazil. It was re-equipped in 1980 with trains built by Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works (SLM) of Winterthur, Switzerland, and these were in turn replaced in 2019 by vehicles from SLM's successor company Stadler Rail.

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.

Route and operation

left|thumb|An old train, photographed in 2005.

left|thumb|Map showing the railway's route up Corcovado.

The line is The vehicles, introduced in 2019, are capable of reaching a maximum speed of , compared to the previous maximum of , allowing the ascent to be made in about 15 minutes. During the descent, energy is recovered by regenerative braking, which leads to a saving of 75% of the overall power consumption.

thumb|left|250px|Engineer's view

There are three trains,<!-- For our American friends -->).

References

General reference

  • Article "Rio de Janeiro: City of contrasts, quality metro" by C. J. Wansbeek, in Tramways & Urban Transit magazine, March 2005, published by the Light Rail Transit Association.
  • Corcovado Rack Railway website
  • Virtual Pictour with information @ The Rio de Janeiro Photo Guide