About this journey

Cosme Velho station sits at the foot of Corcovado hill in Rio de Janeiro's Zona Sul, where the historic terminus of the Estrada de Ferro do Corcovado has stood since Emperor Dom Pedro II opened the line on 9 October 1884. Electrified in 1910 — the first electrified railway in Brazil — it climbs 3.824 km of granite slope through the Tijuca Forest on metre gauge track, using the Riggenbach rack system against gradients of up to 30%. Power comes from a rare three-phase overhead system running at 900 V, 60 Hz, one of the few such installations left anywhere in the world.

The Stadler Bhe 4/8 fleet, introduced in 2019, is capable of reaching up to 25 km/h on the ascent, completing the climb in about 15 minutes. On the descent, regenerative braking recovers energy that saves 75% of overall power consumption. The railway's place in Rio's history runs deeper than transport: during the construction of Christ the Redeemer, the pieces of the statue were carried up the mountain by these same tracks over four years. At the 710-metre summit, the panorama that awaits includes Sugarloaf Mountain, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Maracanã Stadium, and the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon — the full sweep of the city laid out below the Art Déco figure the railway helped build.