Christ the Redeemer tour by the old train.

The Christ the Redeemer statue rises 38 meters on the summit of Corcovado, a rock peak the train operator puts at 710 meters, standing straight up out of the city. Its first stone was laid in 1922, and it was inaugurated on 12 October 1931. Arms open, it looks out over the bay, the beaches and the neighbourhoods that fill every gap between the mountains.

It is also a church. The Archdiocese of Rio runs a sanctuary at the foot of the statue, and every morning between 7h30 and 8h a priest blesses the first visitors before the platform opens. Visitors of every faith and none come up, but the place asks for the manners of a sanctuary: covered up, no swimwear, and voices kept low near the chapel.

The statue sits inside Tijuca National Park, a forest of about 3,200 hectares which the park presents as the world's largest replanted forest inside a city. That is why the ride up feels like a trip into the countryside, even though the streets of Rio lie just below the canopy.

Since 3 August 2026 the escalators at the top have been out of service while new ones are installed, with completion expected by the end of May 2027 on the date Petrobras gave the operator. Visits continue throughout, and the train runs as normal.

The changes are these. The last 80 steps from the second floor are now stone stairs for all, and the number of people allowed on the summit together has been halved. The limit binds rail passengers, van passengers, hikers and guided groups alike.

Staff can carry visitors with limited mobility up in motorised stair-climbers, though only when the steps are dry. When the works are finished, new escalators and inclined lifts are meant to make the climb easier than before.

The platform opens after a short blessing every morning between 7h30 and 8h, and the first train leaves Cosme Velho at 8 AM. An early train gets you up before the tour groups, with soft light on the city and the statue.

The official van company points to the afternoon from 14h as the quietest time of day, and recommends the late afternoon for photographs. The last trains run until 6 PM, so an afternoon slot still leaves time to watch the light change over the bay.

Avoid the late morning if you can, when the crowd from the hotels arrives all at once. During the escalator works the summit takes only half its usual numbers at a time, so popular slots fill sooner than they used to. Book your time when you book your flights to Rio, not the night before.