It might come as no surprise, but there are more problems in Rio leading up to the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The metro line extension might not be finished before the Games begin in August. “There is a risk of the work not being finished, but there is still enough time to turn it around,” a senior city government source told Reuters.
The line is a necessity in transporting fans from the tourist hotbeds to the sporting venues where swimming, basketball, and tennis will be held, among others.
The hold up revolves around a 1.4 billion reais, or $350 million loan from the BNDES development bank that needs to be released by Brazil’s government, although the state government says there’s no delay, and that the project was 90 percent complete, saying, “We are rigorously within the time frame.”
Concerns remain over whether the new subway line, pictured in July, will be ready in time ©Rio 2016/Henrique Freire pic.twitter.com/asQUb5Bxbq
— PAZ (@tortugadiaz) September 2, 2015
The city government told Reuters that despite the claims by the state government, there has been a plan B constructed that “would use buses with their own express lane to travel the route.”
The concerns surrounding the line have been around since the summer, but busses with their own express lane sounds like a quick and promising alternative, if the line is indeed in danger of not being completed.
[Reuters]
