The pneumatic “people mover”, the train system designed to connect the CPTM (Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos) station with the three stations of Guarulhos Airport, in the São Paulo metropolitan area, began operating in an ancillary way on Wednesday night (3).
According to the report of people who followed the start of the operation, the “small train” at least this month will transport only airport employees.
The new forecast is that airport passengers arriving or departing from the site by CPTM train will start using the new mode of transport in January.
In this phase of auxiliary operation, the aircraft must operate daily from 6pm to midnight. The schedule is the same as the tests conducted months ago, but only with Erum workers in charge of transportation, and some guests or sandbags to weigh them down.
The “people mover” will currently not be able to exceed 25 km/h (in tests it reached 57 km/h, but the maximum operational speed is 45 km/h). It must also be trading at a maximum of 50% of its capacity.
The employee-assisted operation is still in the final stage of certification, and is one of the last operations before commercial operation – when fully operational, the journey between the train station and the airport’s Terminal 3 should be completed in 6 minutes.
But the movement of trains on Wednesday was considered the beginning of operations.
Elevated transportation had to be built because the CPTM station does not reach the airport. Travel to the three stations in Kumbika is done by bus. Just like group groups, mobile phone use will be free.
The system’s three trains began testing at the beginning of the year, first on weekends, The Guardian reported Bound. They started running first on Sundays and then gradually throughout the days.
The total length of the suspended railway route is 2.7 km and includes four stations, one connected to the capital train and the other at each of the three stations of the international airport. When the system is opened, this final trip will take approximately six minutes.
The air-propelled vehicle consists of two articulated cars weighing 16 tons, and is expected to carry up to 200 passengers per trip. They run on two tracks, as if they were traditional trains.
The total cost in 2023 was estimated at just over R$300 million. The installment is financed with resources from a grant from GRU Airpor, the concessionaire responsible for managing the international airport.
Anac (National Civil Aviation Agency) recently reported that there are no expectations for the start of transport operations.