São Paulo subway strike prompts crowds at bus stops

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Special operation serves subway users of lines 1, 2, 3 and 15

São Paulo’s subway lines 1-Blue, 2-Green, 3-Red and the monorail line 15-Silver should not be operating regularly on Wednesday, May 19. São Paulo residents dawned to crowded bus stops and long lines to catch the bus.

In an online meeting on Tuesday, May 18, the Subway Workers Union decided to start a strike. There were 2,448 votes in favor of the strike (77.42%). Workers decided to strike for salary readjustments and benefits.

Lines 4 and 5, privately operated, will not stop, as explained by the concessionaires in a statement: “ViaQuatro and ViaMobilidade, concessionaires in charge of operation and maintenance of subway lines 4-Yellow and 5-Lilac, respectively, report that these will operate regularly on Wednesday, May 19, between 4:40 AM and midnight,” they said.

Special schedule

São Paulo Transport (SPTrans) created a special schedule with 163 buses connecting subway stations to the central region. The PAESE (Attendance Plan between Companies in Emergency Situations) has been activated since 4 AM this Wednesday, comprising the creation of 6 special lines departing from subway stations to the central region to attend passengers with a total fleet of 200 buses.

SPTrans urged the concessionaires to increase the number of departures in all schedules and to keep the entire fleet in circulation throughout the operation, in the morning peak, between peaks and in the afternoon peak. In addition, some lines that connect neighborhoods to the subway stations will run from neighborhoods to the central region.