Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos is a rapid transit and commuter rail company owned by the São Paulo State Department for Metropolitan Transports. It was created in May 28, 1992 from several railroads that already existed in Greater São Paulo, Brazil. Part of the Greater São Paulorail network, CPTM has 94 stations in seven lines, with a total length of. The system carries about 3 million passengers a day. On December 7, 2018, CPTM set a weekday ridership record with 3,221,035 trips.
History
Most of railways now run by CPTM were built between 1860 and 1957 by the São Paulo Railway, Estrada de Ferro Sorocabana and Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil. These railways were eventually incorporated into the state-owned Rede Ferroviária Federal in 1957 and Ferrovia Paulista S.A. 1971. Finally, in 1992 the urban sections of RFFSA and FEPASA merged, forming CPTM. Between the end of the 1990s and the early 2000s, CPTM began the conversion of some metropolitan lines to provide a service similar to rapid transit and better integrate with the São Paulo Metro. Most of the stations where either rebuilt or modernized and new trains were purchased allowing the headway of lines to be as low as four minutes in some lines. This experience started in Line E in the year 2000, in the stretch known as "East Express", serving the east end of São Paulo City and running parallel to Line 3 - Red. The proposed Trens Intercidadesregional railway project is considering using Line 7 tracks for providing service to neighboring cities of Jundiaí, Campinas and Americana. In 2018, CPTM opened Line 13, the first line completely built and operated by the company. This line connects Line 12 to the São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, with a special Express service connecting it to the central Luz station, and another service connecting it to the Brás station, both only operating on a specific schedule.
Operation
CPTM operates seven lines in the Greater São Paulo area, identified by number and color. Most of these lines run on existing surface tracks that continue out of Greater São Paulo as MRS Logística intercity freight lines and share right of way with freight trains. The more lightly used outer sections of several lines have level crossings. Service starts every day at 4 AM, when trains depart from each terminus, until the last train leaves at midnight. On Saturdays operation is extended until 1 AM. The company charges a flat fare that can be paid either by magnetic ticket sold in the stations or with a rechargeable smartcard, and grants access to any of the rail lines on the Greater São Paulo, including lines operated by the São Paulo Metro.
