Skip to main content

BYD to build autonomous monorail system in Brazil

BYD is to build its SkyRail autonomous monorail in Brazil to connect Salvador’s central business district with São João Island. SkyRail will operate along a 20km track with a capacity of 150,000 passengers per day. The route will be partially built over the sea and offer connections with the city’s subway system. Stella Li, senior vice president of BYD and president of BYD Motors, says SkyRail will offer a zero-emission mode of transport for people living in Salvador. The project will become part
February 20, 2019 Read time: 1 min
5445 BYD is to build its SkyRail autonomous monorail in Brazil to connect Salvador’s central business district with São João Island.


SkyRail will operate along a 20km track with a capacity of 150,000 passengers per day. The route will be partially built over the sea and offer connections with the city’s subway system.

Stella Li, senior vice president of BYD and president of BYD Motors, says SkyRail will offer a zero-emission mode of transport for people living in Salvador.

The project will become part of the city’s light vehicle transport system, which is scheduled to begin construction within six months and will be fully operational by 2021.

SkyRail was launched in October 2016 following five years of research and development. It is currently operational in the western Chinese city of Yinchuan.

Related Content

  • September 20, 2021
    ITSWC 2021: New solutions for the new normal
    October’s ITS World Congress in Hamburg will profile the changing face of mobility, with real-world examples of electric vehicle implementation, shared transport and autonomy taking centre stage
  • June 7, 2012
    China’s BYD wins European electric bus orders for Netherlands city
    An island which is home to the Netherlands’ first National Park is about to launch Europe’s cleanest bus fleet. The city of Schiermonnikoog in the province of Friesland, Netherlands is nestled on this 16 km long island and is virtually car-free. While home to about 1000 residents, over 350,000 people visit the island every year and will now ride in six new, long-range, all-electric BYD buses set to launch on Schiermonnikoog early next year. In a European legal tender and open bid supported by four major bus
  • November 13, 2012
    Thales awarded Manaus monorail CBTC signalling contract
    The Manaus metro in the city of Amazonas in the heart of the Amazon is to be equipped with Thales’ automated driverless monorail solution, following the award to the company of its second signalling Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) project in Brazil in less than a year for the The signalling contract was awarded to Thales by the Monotrilho Manaus Consortium, comprising CR Almeida, Mendes Junior, and Serveng-Civilsan e Scomi. The 20 km monorail will be a fully automated driverless system using Thale
  • September 29, 2020
    SkyTrain signals more work for Thales
    Contract win extends manufacturer's SelTrac CBTC footprint in Vancouver’s mass transit system