Tree fall closes 19 stations on the Recife Metro Center Line

The 19 stations on the Recife Metro Center Line, which cover the Camaragibe and Jaboatão branches, were closed this Thursday morning (24), after a tree fell onto the power grid (see video above). The Brazilian Urban Train Company (CBTU) reported that operations are expected to resume around noon. Until the stations are reopened, bus circulation has been reinforced (see below).

The accident, which happened around 3am, damaged the entire electrical supply structure between the Barro and Tejipió stations and impacts around 90,000 passengers who use the Centro Line daily.

A passenger who identified herself only as Ana went to Joana Bezerra Station, in the central area of ​​Recife, to try to get to the Afogados neighborhood, in the West Zone of the capital of Pernambuco, but found the Centro Line not working. "It gets difficult, we arrive late for work, and we are taken by surprise. When I turned on the television, I found out," he told TV Globo.

The tree that fell was removed from the site, and maintenance teams are working to reopen the Central Line. According to CBTU communications manager, Silvano Gomes, the damage to the subway line was complex.

"The damage was very extensive, because the tree was very large, and affected the entire structural part of the air network and the counterweights of the lines that feed the subway. [...] We know that, with the fall of a tree, when everything is reestablished, one or another problem could occur that could delay the return," said Salvino Gomes to TV Globo.

The suspension of operation of the Centro Line took place one day after CBTU announced that all 19 stations on this line will close one hour earlier from Monday (28). They start to operate until 10pm due to work to replace the roofs of the Afogados stations, in the West Zone of the capital, and Joana Bezerra, in the city center.

CBTU technicians work to remove a tree that fell into the electrical network of the Recife Metro Center Line. — Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo

Reinforcement on buses

To reduce inconvenience to passengers this Thursday morning, the Greater Recife Transport Consortium activated three emergency bus lines:

238 - TI Jaboatão/ TI Barro;

858 - TI Joana Bezerra/ TI Afogados/ TI Barro;

2481 - TI Camaragibe/ TI TIP.

Furthermore, the fleet of two other bus lines was reinforced:

200 - TI Jaboatão (Parador);

2450 - TI Camaragibe (Center).

Sign signals the closure of the Recife Metro Center Line at the entrance to Joana Bezerra Station — Photo: Reproduction/TV Globo

Recurring problems

The Recife Metro has been facing stoppages and problems for years. The agreement to "stateize" the administration of the Recife Metro was signed in December last year and provides, after the transfer of management, the feasibility of a study for the concession of the system to the private sector.

According to the Ministry of Cities, R$4 billion will be invested in the first years of the concession, which will have a term of 30 years. The federal government also informed that there will be no increase in subway fares in 2026 and that the jobs of CBTU employees will be preserved.