VLT CARIOCA
Rio de Janeiro tramway, Brazil
Mission
VLT CARIOCA (CCR, OTP, INVEPAR, RIOPAR, BRT et RATP Dev), the consortium that prepared and won the bid to operate a completely new tram network in the Porto Maravilha district of Rio de Janeiro, approached Yellow Window and Indio da Costa to combine their expertise and propose an ambitious design for the tram vehicles.
Porto Maravilha is a unique project to revitalize the old port area. The tram network is an essential component and creates a completely new network covering also the historic city centre and connecting major hubs like the interstate bus station, the city centre airport of Santos Dumont, the ferry terminal and the central train station.
2016
Result
The design team developed design principles taking into account the characteristics of the new network, the city and the use cases typical for Rio. This included challenging some generally accepted standards to adapt to a city where public transport has a low market share and very specific image. This includes very high volumes of passengers at peak hours, anti-fraud systems, but also the integration into a city in full transformation in the run up to the world cup and the Olympics.
These principles were applied to the tram chosen by the consortium, the Citadis from Alstom.
The tram’s expressively futuristic styling is balanced by architectural minimalism: to transmit the city of Rio de Janeiro modernity, energy and quality, while being timeless for decades. Another key distinguishing feature to blend in the system, is the omittance of overhead wires as the system is entirely ground level powered.
(Mission done in cooperation with Indio da Costa AUT, a Rio based design company).
