The Bondinho's!!!! YEAH!!!! are coming back in some form supposedly next month. And by the end of the year, the prediction is that the newly-laid rails will go all the way up to Silvestre, where there will be a connection with the funicular which heads up from Cosme Velho to the top of Corcovado. New 3-car trains with the center section even having a space for the handicapped. There will still be the traditional ledges for the hangers-on riding for free on each side. The trains are modern, but intended to lend a nod to the past. Tradition! Here;s a link to the story in O Globo.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/ancelmo/posts/2014/03/29/a-volta-dos-bondinhos-529284.asp

There will still be the traditional ledges for the hangers-on riding for free on each side.

What a neat idea. They're adding a lot of extra capacity at nominal cost and, at the same time providing a service for the poor (or at least those both poor and agile enough to hang on).

That could never happen in the US. Forget that legal and insurance would have a fit; we just don't think that way.

Well, maybe in San Francisco. All kinds of strange shit going on there.

Actually, the old trains of the Bonde (or Bondinho indicating little) all had straphangers/polehangers from the sides of the cars on both sides who would hop on and off at will. The scary/interesting part of the ride were that some not-so-nice people would hop on, steal something - purse, watch, package, necklace, earings - and quickly hop right off again.

One of my timefillers when riding the metro here is to inspect the ear lobes of the women on the train who are not wearing earings. Checking to see if they have scars where their lobes have healed after having dangling earings violently torn off during snatch and grab robberies.

...glad to be apprised of this! I look forward to my next trip to be able to ride once again and enjoy it, the fellow riders, and the scenery near and afar!!!!!!

The Bondinho's!!!! YEAH!!!! are coming back in some form supposedly next month. And by the end of the year, the prediction is that the newly-laid rails will go all the way up to Silvestre, where there will be a connection with the funicular which heads up from Cosme Velho to the top of Corcovado. New 3-car trains with the center section even having a space for the handicapped. There will still be the traditional ledges for the hangers-on riding for free on each side. The trains are modern, but intended to lend a nod to the past. Tradition! Here;s a link to the story in O Globo.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/ancelmo/posts/2014/03/29/a-volta-dos-bondinhos-529284.asp

I took one of these cute yellow trains on my way up to Corcovado ... it was a touristy train, I don't remember any people hanging on the sides.

Well, maybe in San Francisco. All kinds of strange shit going on there.

Hmmm...I hadn't heard that. Details?

The train up to Corcovado is a funicular. The Bondinho that goes up to Santa Teresa and connects with the funicular to Corcovado at the Silvestre terminal is a whole other different thing. The funicular is an import of memory serves direct from Switzerland. While the old Bondinho was a rickety wooden affair with steps on the side that the more agile residents of Santa Teresa would hop off and grab on to with no charge as long as they did not sit down. It could always be a bit thrilling crossing the acqueduct at Lapa and being able to look way down. With basically no decent protective fence. And of course, when climbing and descending through Santa Teresa, there was always the fear in the back of my mind at the strength of the brakes. Well, something went wrong in 2011 and five passengers were killed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YmxKdxNfbk

The Bondinho's!!!! YEAH!!!! are coming back in some form supposedly next month. And by the end of the year, the prediction is that the newly-laid rails will go all the way up to Silvestre, where there will be a connection with the funicular which heads up from Cosme Velho to the top of Corcovado. New 3-car trains with the center section even having a space for the handicapped. There will still be the traditional ledges for the hangers-on riding for free on each side. The trains are modern, but intended to lend a nod to the past. Tradition! Here;s a link to the story in O Globo.

http://oglobo.globo.com/rio/ancelmo/posts/2014/03/29/a-volta-dos-bondinhos-529284.asp

I either read this on the internet the other day or saw it on one of the national newscast! While I viewed this great news, my mind wandered to the time that I rode from Lapa to Santa Teresa with my guide on two occasions! This was such an uplifting experience.

I even took some photos of some cute school kids riding it. ...saw it amongst my photos from Rio in 2004 just the other night, too!

Thanks for posting this for us!

The train up to Corcovado is a funicular.

Yep, you're right ihpguy. It's a different type of train.