The Porto Maravilha is LRT being implemented as a PPP project by a consortium led by Brazilian companies CCR Group and Invepar, which was awarded a contract to design, build, operate, and maintain the network in April 2013. Consortium member RATP Dev will operate the system for 25 years.

The first phase between Santos Dumont airport and Rodoviária Novo Rio is scheduled to open in the first half of next year in time for the summer Olympic Games, which will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro.

When completed, the network will have capacity to carry up to 300,000 passengers per day with trams operating at headways of between three and 15 minutes.

The Reais 1.2bn ($US 380m) project is being funded with the aid of a Reais 532m grant from the federal government's Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC).

Alstom is supplying a fleet of 32 44m-long catenary-free Citadis LRVs for the project. The first five vehicles were built in France while the remaining 27 units are being assembled on Alstom's newly-commissioned LRV production line at Taubaté in São Paulo state.

Porto Maravilha test run