Rio’s BarraShopping Will Connect with Other Malls via Monorail in 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – To make life easier for its users, one of Multiplan’s goals, administering BarraShopping, NewYorkCityCenter and VillageMall, is to connect the three malls through an electric monorail, which will bring the entire Complex even closer together. The complex as a whole is visited by some 38 million people each year and employs, directly and indirectly, 14,000 staff.

This will not be the first time that BarraShopping will have a monorail, as those who grew up in the 90s in Rio know. Between 1996 and 2000 there was a short 1.56 km line that went around the mall, at 18 km/h and with a seating capacity for 60 people.

After its initial success, due to the novelty, its operation proved to be deficient due to the high tariff, R$ 1.50 (today it would be around R$5).

The project cost US$12 million and included three stations, the yellow (Lagoa), the red and the blue. Over time, all the rail beams and their supports were removed, giving way to parking spaces. One of its stations was remodeled as a pedestrian walkway for Fórum da Barra and the BarraShopping Business Center.

The new Monorail was planned for mid-2019. A cost of R$100 million was planned. The project should be fully funded by the company and sustainable. Like other rail transport, the equipment would be electric, that is, less polluting.