São Paulo Opens 5.2 km Trial Section of Metro Line 6 with South America's Deepest Station

Brazil's São Paulo metro network opened the first 5.2 km section of Line 6 (Orange) on July 2, 2026, operating trial passenger service between João Paulo I and Perdizes stations. The opening introduces service on a new metro line in Brazil's largest city and one of Latin America's major metropolitan areas.

The opening includes Água Branca station, now South America's deepest metro station at 47.8 m below ground, surpassing São Paulo's own Santa Cruz station on Line 5 at 41.5 m depth. The engineering depth addresses the line's routing through densely built urban fabric in a city where subsurface infrastructure must navigate existing foundations and utility networks. Line 6 will form part of a 15.3 km route designed to carry over 600,000 passengers per day when complete, with 15 stations linking western districts to the existing network. The ridership projection places Line 6 among São Paulo's higher-capacity metro corridors, comparable to established radial routes.

The trial service operates in limited assisted operation mode, a phased opening procedure allowing operational testing under real passenger loads before full commercial service. The segment connects João Paulo I in the Perdizes district with intermediate stops, though the complete station count for this initial section was not disclosed in available reports. Line 6 is being delivered under a public-private partnership (PPP) structure, a procurement model São Paulo state has employed for recent metro expansion projects including Line 4 Yellow and Line 5 Lilac extensions. The PPP framework shifts construction risk and operational responsibility to the private consortium during the concession period.

São Paulo operates Latin America's largest metro system, with over 100 km of track across six lines serving a metropolitan area of 22 million people. Line 6 extends westward from the city centre, filling a coverage gap in districts previously served only by surface transport. The remaining 10.1 km of Line 6 remains under construction, though no opening date for subsequent phases was provided. The trial phase will allow São Paulo Metro to refine signalling, train frequency and station operations before scaling to full scheduled service. The July 2 opening marks progress on a metro expansion programme that has added three new lines to the network since 2010, with Line 6 representing the first PPP-delivered greenfield metro line in the São Paulo system.