Open Press Room

The city of Sao Paulo has the most overcrowded subway in the world.
The milestone was reached this year, according to the CoMET, which brings together the 11 key transport systems for rail in the world.
Currently, the Sao Paulo subway system transports 10 million passengers per km of rail, against the 8.6 million registered in Moscow, Russia.
In third is Shanghai, China, with 7 million people for each km of rails.
The overcrowding on subways of Sao Paulo can be explained by two factors.
On one hand, there was increase of 750 thousand passengers a day after the implementation of the ’single ticket’ system in 2006.
Only the Red Line, the most bustling, gained an average of 70 thousand new passengers a day.
At peak hours, the trains began to receive up to 8.6 passengers per m2 - the maximum limit is 6 people per m2, according to international standards.
For safety reasons, the company reduced the average speed by 10%, increasing in up to 4 minutes the travel time.
What best helps understanding the overcrowding is the small size of the network - the lowest among the 11 largest in the world.
The 11 million inhabitants of Sao Paulo are limited to 61.3 km of subway lines.
In comparison, with 5.5 million residents, Santiago, Chile, offers 83.2 km.
By the wayt, the two systems began construction at the same time in the 1970s.
Although the subway has increased available seats by 35% in the last decade the pace of expansion is still slow.
Between 1974, the year of inauguration, and 2007, the subways of Sao Paulo advanced 1.5 km per year.
Even if the current government plans are implemented, the São Paulo should only have 80.5 km of lines by 2010.
New York, the world’s most extensive subway in the world, has 479 km.