São Paulo Metro

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**São Paulo Metro**

Locale	São Paulo
Transit type	Rapid transit
Began operation	September 9, 1974
System length	60.5 km (37.6 mi)
No. of lines	4
No. of stations	54
Daily ridership	2,500,000 (FY 2006)
Operator	Companhía do Metropolitano de São Paulo

The interior of a metro station in São Paulo

The São Paulo Metro (Portuguese: Metropolitano de São Paulo, commonly called Metrô) is the city of São Paulo's rapid transit system. The first such system in Brazil, it began operations in 1974. Although Greater São Paulo is one of the largest cities in the world, with a population of 19 million (11 million city proper), its metro system is relatively small (60,5 kilometers of track) when compared to its European or North American counterparts.

As of 2005, it consisted of four color-coded lines: Line 1 - Blue, Line 2 - Green, Line 3 - Red and Line 5 - Lilac, serving a total of 56 stations. The metro system carries 2,800,000 persons a day. Metro itself does not cover all of the urban area. Another company, Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM), works along the metro system and runs railways converted into metro, which total six lines (A, B, C, D, E, and F), about 250 km long, serving 92 stations. Metro and CPTM have integration between their stations. Metro and CPTM each operate as a State government company, and have received awards in the recent past as the cleanest system in the world.

Metro logo

CPTM logo

The first line, Norte-Sul (North-South), later renamed "blue line", and then Line 1 – Blue, was inaugurated in September 18, 1972, with an experimental operation between Saúde and Jabaquara, and began commercial operations on September 14, 1974. That was after an eight year gestation period that began in 1966, under mayor Faria Lima.

Outside the Consolação Metro station in the Avenida Paulista (Line 2 - Green)

Expansion on the metro includes new lines. In late 2004, efforts had begun on a US$ 1 billion, 12 km all-underground line, Line 4 – Yellow, with eleven stations, due to transporting almost a million people per day. By 2004, line 2 was also being expanded, with two new stations open in 2006 and another one due to open by March 2007.

A 10 km expansion of the Line 5 and construction of a 15 km airport express line are in the short-term plans as well. The plans also include revamping the CPTM heavy rail system, which will add several million passengers capacity into the system. It is expected that the São Paulo Metro and CPTM systems will carry about 7 million people on average week days by 2012, as opposed to today's 4 million (Metro: 2.5 million; CPTM: 1.5 million as of 2004).

Metro stations operate from 4:40 a.m. to around 12:00 a.m. As of 2007, tickets cost R$2.30 (about US$1.18). Integrated tickets which may be used on city buses are also available, and cost R$4.00 (about US$ 1.9). In 2006 the Metro started to use an eletronic ticket, called "Bilhete Único", or "Single Ticket" in English. With this eletronic ticket, liked a bank card, the passenger can take 3 buses and 1 metro or CPTM in 2 hours paying just R$3.50, or 4 buses and only pay R$2.30.