Minas Gerais state to purchase 24 subway trains from China's CRRC

Brazil’s Minas Gerais state announced the acquisition of 24 subway trains from Chinese firm CRRC Corporation.

The trains will be used in state capital Belo Horizonte’s subway, operated by Metrô BH.

Metrô BH is controlled by Brazilian bus operator Comporte Participações, which at the end of 2022 won an auction for the privatization of Minas Gerais state rail firm CBTU. As part of the privatization, the firm assumed the concession contract to operate the subway system.

“Brazil and China are great partners… CRRC and the Minas Gerais government understand the importance of the Belo Horizonte subway to the population," said CRRC chairman Sun Yongcai in a statement.

The Chinese firm has started manufacturing the trains and the expectation is that the first train will go into operation in the first half of 2026. The state government did not disclose the cost of the contract with CRRC.

The trains will have four cars each and operate on line No. 1 as well as future line No. 2. They will be equipped with automatic train operation technology. 

The state’s subway fleet is currently composed of 35 trains.

CRRC expanding in Brazil

In February, a consortium formed by Comporte and CRRC won a PPP contract at an auction for the São Paulo state intercity rail project, known as Trem Intercidades.

The contract to build and operate the 101km line involves investments estimated at 14.2bn reais (US$2.75bn).

Line No.2

Comporte, as the new owner of CBTU, will be responsible for extending line No. 1 and building line No. 2.

With an extension of 28.1km and 19 stations, line No. 1 serves the municipalities of Belo Horizonte and Contagem. Line No. 2 will add 10.5km and seven stations to the system.

Line No. 2 construction is expected to kick off in September after Comporte secures environmental approval for the project.