I dedicated my Master's thesis to large transportation infrastructures in emerging countries. I focused on Brazil, building up a case study on Rio de Janeiro's latest metro network extension, the Line 4, in the wake of the Rio 2016 Olympics. I warmly thank Mr. Alain Quinet, Deputy Executive Director at SNCF Réseau, for supervising my thesis. Please feel free to reach out to me should you be interested in the full version of my thesis (French version only). I will be more than happy to discuss that topic.

1. How to Build Sustainable Public Transport Infrastructures in
Emerging Countries ?
Vincent FEBVET
Under the supervision of M. Alain Quinet, Deputy Executive Director, SNCF Réseau
Executive Summary
Over the 2000s, Latin America witnessed the emergence of a future economic
juggernaut. Under the tenure of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil experienced an
astonishing growth that favored the reduction in extreme poverty, the rise of a middle-class
and rapid urban sprawl. Yet public transportation has been lagging behind urban expansion,
as seen in Rio de Janeiro, one of the world’s most congested cities. In a metropolis gathering
over 12 million inhabitants with its suburbs, traffic congestion combined with undersized
public transport infrastructures lead to commuting time greater than five hours, even as three
in four trips head to downtown where most jobs are concentrated. Aware of the seriousness
of the situation, public authorities undertook large infrastructure projects to promote urban
mobility under the pressure of hosting both the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Rio
Olympics.
The Olympics’ most iconic heritage for urban mobility is undoubtedly the new Metro
Line 4, between General Osorio and Jardim Oceânico stations. Announced as far as twenty
years ago, this very complex project required high-level expertise due to the line itinerary.
Beyond merely serving the Olympic Park in 2016, the L4 now connects Ipanema to Barra da
Tijuca, respectively in the southern and western districts of Rio, in a record 15 minutes and
aims to alleviate traffic jams and boost business opportunities. Traffic on the line will be
supported on the one hand by a shift from car drivers and bus passengers to the metro, and
on the other hand by strong demographics and robust economic prospects in both districts,
not least intermodal connections between transport networks thanks to future extensions of
the L4. The grantor, the State of Rio de Janeiro (SRJ), awarded the project under a concession

2. scheme which is more similar to a construction guaranteed by the grantor and then a traffic-
risk concession for the operation and maintenance at commissioning. Indeed, the SRJ financed
most of the works, including cost overruns, even as public finances had been slipping
dangerously on the eve of the Olympics. Tariffs are the same on the whole metropolitan
network, inflation-linked and a revision clause creates a framework for talks on potential
readjustments in the case of financial desequilibrium of the contract, subject to prior
agreement by the regulator, which seeks to guarantee all passengers access to the metro.
As it was built and delivered in an extremely challenging environment, this new
extension of the metro network must be preserved over the long term. Four conditions are to
be met in order to succeed. First of all, the financing plan of the operator must be secured by
keeping on pulling strong traffic demand at competitive tariffs and by turning to new funding
sources for future extensions of the network. At the same time, a governance of public
transportation at the regional scale needs to emerge so as to design, finance and follow-up
transport infrastructures. In addition, the operational management should improve its quality
of service towards customers. Lastly, public authorities must crackdown on corruption in
procurement contracts in the limelight of the Lava Jato embezzlement scandal. A lot of
progress remains to be made, however the latest accomplishments may give way to optimism
for the future.