Two senior government sources said that the metro line extension that will connect Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Park in Barra de Tijuca with the rest of the city "is at risk of not being finished before the Games start in August, if a delayed development bank loan is not disbursed," according to Rodrigo Viga Gaier of REUTERS.
The transport link, which was a key bid promise when Rio was chosen to host South America's first Olympics, "is vital to transport fans from the tourist hotspots of Copacabana and Ipanema to venues where sports such as swimming, basketball and tennis will be held." A senior city government source said,
"There is a risk of the work not being finished, but there is still enough time to turn it around."
At issue is a R$1.4B ($350M) loan from the BNDES development bank "that needs to be released by Brazil's cash-strapped federal government." A source from the state government said that the money "was supposed to be disbursed last year but still has not arrived." The city government source said that "a plan B has been devised that would use buses with their own express lane to travel the route" (REUTERS, 2/22). In Sydney, Nicole Jeffery wrote local newspaper O Globo revealed the contents of an email Mayor Eduardo Paes sent to the IOC in which he warned that there was an "elevated risk" that Metro Line 4 will not be finished in time. There are still 200m of rock to be excavated on the 16km metro line extension, "which is expected to reduce travel times between the Olympic venues to as little as 15 minutes from the current road journeys of up to two hours at peak times." However, Rio state officials insist that the metro system, which is needed to transport hundreds of thousands of spectators to the Games, "will be ready before the opening ceremony on August 5." Rio de Janeiro State Transportation Dir Carlos Osorio said, "We are working carefully and on schedule. The expansion work is moving forward and progress is made every day. We will be in a position to deliver the project in July" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 2/23).
