Via Mobilidade, the concessionaire that manages lines 8 – Diamante and 9 – Esmeralda of the São Paulo metropolitan trains, says that it has already invested BRL 1 billion in the system since it took over the contract, in January 2022.
The company says that the contributions have already provided improvement in the quality of services. According to the concessionaire, in the last month of December, there was a 78% drop in complaints and 76% in failures compared to March 2022.
series of failures
The company must respond by today (6th) to questions from the Public Ministry of São Paulo (MPSP) about the series of problems and failures since it took over the administration of the two lines. The prosecution has opened an investigation to find out the origin of the problems and says it will have to take the “necessary measures” to guarantee the provision of services to the population. According to the MP, the possibility of requesting the termination of the concession contract or requesting compensation due to the “numerous” accidents and occurrences is being studied.
In a note, the concessionaire said that “it will manifest itself within the deadline and with the appropriate instances”. However, the MP has not yet confirmed receipt of the manifestation.
State government
Two weeks ago, the governor of São Paulo, Tarcísio de Freitas, called the management of Via Mobilidade to a meeting to present plans to modernize the lines. “Public transport users cannot wake up early and not be sure that they will have trains available. The operation of the system has to be safe and of good quality”, emphasized the governor, at the time.
Last year, the State Secretariat for Metropolitan Transport applied R$ 7.8 million in fines to the concessionaire for non-compliance with the contract due to recurring failures on the lines operated by the company.
Concession
Via Mobilidade, a consortium formed by CCR and Grupo Ruas, won, in 2021, the concession to manage lines 8 and 9, which were maintained by the state-owned Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM). The contract is valid for 30 years. The company also maintains Line 5 – Lilac of the metro system.
The company claims that in 2023 it will invest BRL 1.5 billion in the lines, in part to pay for 36 new trains ordered for the French manufacturer Alstom. Of these, 16 trains should, according to the concessionaire, start operating in 2023.
The concessionaire’s forecast is that, following the contract with the state government, R$ 3.8 billion will be invested in the first three years of the concession.
