About this journey

Carioca station sits at the foot of Santa Teresa hill in downtown Rio de Janeiro, where the bonde — the city's historic tram — begins its climb through the neighbourhood streets above. The line's origins reach back to 1872, when the concession was granted to the founders of the Companhia Ferro-Carril de Santa Teresa, and passenger service began in 1877. By 1897 the route had been completely electrified, becoming the first totally electric tram system in South America.

The most dramatic moment of the 6.0-kilometre route comes early: the tram crosses the Carioca Aqueduct, a former water conduit built in 1750, at a height of 17.6 metres above the street. The unusual track gauge of 1,100 mm was set to match the width of that structure. For much of the remaining climb, the line runs along ordinary streets shared with motor vehicles, threading through the hillside quarter of Santa Teresa. After a serious 2011 derailment suspended all service, a revitalisation project restored the full Carioca–Dois Irmãos route to passenger service on 21 January 2019. Designated a national historic monument in 1985, and the sole survivor of a city-wide tram network that contracted after 1967, the bonde de Santa Teresa carries the journey's 46 minutes between downtown Rio and the Dois Irmãos terminus as both a working transit line and a living piece of Brazilian urban history.