after this many other horse drawn routes were opened and extended throughout the city covering areas such as botafogo and the botanical gardens. soon after the extensions of the network in zona sul, the tram service was extended to zona norte too, covering areas such as vila isabel - the tram network that used to be in existence in rio was actually the largest and most complex in brazil, and it was still running through rio de janeiro as late as the 1960's. the famous bright yellow bondinho, or tram, began to operate in 1877 and still functions today - the main purpose of the tram was to connect the city centre and downtown rio with santa teresa, but now the service is also hugely popular with tourists, and this is one of the main reasons for its continued upkeep and maintenance.
