About this journey

Palmeiras-Barra Funda station in São Paulo stands at the intersection of Metro, suburban rail, and interstate bus services. The first railway presence on this site dates to 10 July 1875, when the Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana opened its station here, and the current intermodal terminal was inaugurated on 17 December 1988. The station was renamed on 27 April 2006 in honour of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, whose headquarters lie 750 metres from the terminal.

The journey runs on Linha 13-Jade, which began operations on 31 March 2018 and gave São Paulo the first direct railway connection to a major South American airport hub. Known as the Expresso Aeroporto, the service has departed from Palmeiras-Barra Funda since September 2023 and calls at only one intermediate station — Guarulhos-CECAP — before reaching its terminus. The municipality of Guarulhos, through which the line passes, occupies terrain within the Atlantic Plateau domain, characterised by hills and mountain ranges rising to a high point of 1,422 metres.

Aeroporto-Guarulhos station sits adjacent to Terminal 1 of São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport, which opened on 20 January 1985. Passengers continuing to Terminals 2 and 3 use the free GRU Airport People Mover. The ride distils a journey that once demanded road transfers into a single, unbroken suburban rail connection from the heart of São Paulo to one of the busiest airports in the world.