Enthusiast's Guide to Travelling
the Railways of Europe
PORTUGAL (Portugal)
General Information
Last update for this page:
03 April 2005.
National Railway System: Railway infrastructure is owned and
maintained by Rede Ferroviária Nacional (REFER), while Caminhos de Ferro
Portugueses (CP) is responsible for the operation of trains through four
business sectors. Both are state-owned.
Language: Portuguese
Currency: Euro
UIC code: 94
Timetable: Guia Horário Oficial has, in recent years, been
published each year but with the Euro 2004 Football Championships and much
related Railway works, the 2003 timetable has been extended until 12 June 2004.
Timetable leaflets for individual lines have been reprinted and are usually
available at main stations. There is an introduction in Portuguese, English and
French. Some downloadable timetables are available.
Timetable Map: Only a simplistic schematic plan is included. There is
a Quail Portugal Railway Map, (second edition January 2001) but there have been
many network changes since it was published.
Gauge: 1668mm, with four separate systems of metre gauge
(Aveiro/Espinho Sernada do Vouga; Livração Amarante; Régua Vila Real; Tua Mirandela)
Electrification: 25kV a.c., except for the former Estoril Railway
from Lisboa Cais do Sodré to Cascais which is 1500V d.c.
Rule of the road: Left
Private Railways:
 |
Sociedade Metropolitano Ligeiro de Mirandela: Mirandela Metro [1995 reopening
of a 4.1km section of ex CP Metre gauge line]: Mirandela
Piaget (close to CP station and adjacent to bus station) - Carvalhais.
Operates approx 14 journeys Mondays to Fridays, 07:45 to 18:30; single
journey time 9 minutes. [operating its own infrastructure] |
|
|
Travessia do Tejo,
Transportes SA: Fertagus: (Lisboa) Entre Campos - Campolide - (over Ponte 25
de Abril) - Pragal - Fogueteiro. Operates daily, betwen two and eight
journeys an hour, 05:35 to 00:50; single journey time 27 minutes.
[operating on REFER infrastructure] |
Tourist Lines:
Sintra-Atlântico Tramway (Metre gauge): after being closed since 2003 for
track relaying, the line reopened for public service on Saturday 5 June 2004,
Fridays to Sundays, currently running from a Sintra town terminus in front of
Vila Alda (close to the Museu de Arte Moderna in the Estefânea district) for
c.12km to Praia das Maçãs. Sintra council hope to re-extend it to start from
Sintra CP station with a target date of 2005.
Transpraia: (600mm gauge): Costa de Caparica - Fonte da Telha (7km); the line
operates daily, June to September.
Barril railway: (600mm gauge): Pedras d'el Rei - Praia do Barril (beach)
(1km); the line operates frequently, during summer.
Metro:
There is a network of four lines in Lisboa with regular
extensions in recent years. The Yellow line was extended 5km from Campo
Grande to Odivelas on 27 March 2004 and the Blue line 2km from Pontinha to
Amadora Este on 15 May 2004. More are planned, extending the Azul line from Baixa-Chiado to Lisboa
Santa Apalonia station which was shown on maps to open in the fourth quarter of
2004 but
www.metrolisboa.pt/obras_a_uk.htm now shows this delayed until early 2006,
and the Red line from Alameda to Sao Sebastião in early 2007. A Tram style
network is under construction in Porto, involving both new build, conversion to
standard gauge and electrification of recently closed Metre gauge CP lines and
reinstatement of sections of closed tram lines. The first line from Trinidade to
Senhora de Matosinhos is now open, with initial services only on a middle
section of Viso to Matosinhos from 29 June 2002. Sections at road junctions and
stations between Trinidade and Senhora da Hora have been dropped into tunnel and
cuttings from the previous street level. Public service commenced on a 3.5km
extension from Trindade via Campanhã to Estádio do Dragão on 6 June 2004.The
complete network is planned to total 70km involving 66 stations. Further
sections of the ex CP lines towards but not yet reaching Póvoa de Varzim and
Trofa were planned for opening in 2004 but are delayed.
A new 13km Metro system is under construction connecting townships on the
south bank of the River Tagus/Tejo. The system extends from the ferry port of
Cacilhas (opposite Cais do Sodre) through Almada to a triangle where the West
Line branches off, dives under the REFER line and connects to it in Pragal
station, continuing into the University campus. An extension to the coastal
resort of Caparica is being discussed.
The south line branches off at the Almada Triangle and runs south along national
road EN 10 to Corroios, another interchange with Fertagus services. A non-public
line continues 1 km south to the depot which will later be in passenger use,
once the extension to Fogueteiro station is implemented. There are plans to
further extend south to Seixal and from there on the old railway embankment
across the mudlands to Barreiro.
Further sections of the former CP lines should be running north to Pedras
Rubras by early 2005. An entirely new branch to serve Aeroporto Internacional Francisco Sá
Carneiro (OPORTO airport) near Pedras Rubras has secured European Union
financing and could also open by late 2005. On the other line to Trofa, Fonte do
Cuco - Castelo da Maia section is to open by September 2005 but the Castelo da
Maia - Trofa section awaits further approval. In Oporto, the north-south Yellow
line will be an entirely new alignment with different level passenger
interchange with the other routes at
Trindade [the only physical connection between the lines will be for stock
transfer only], crossing the river Douro on the upper level of the Luis I bridge, and
running on the surface through the municipality of Gaia (Hospital de São João -
Trindade - Câmara Municipal de Gaia - Santo Ovídio). Target opening-dates are
São João - Câmara de Gaia in spring 2005 and Câmara de Gaia - Santo Ovídio by
end-2005. (www.metro-porto.pt;
www.urbanrail.net)
Trams:
Lisboa, Porto, [currently a tourist operation only but is
being extended and linked to the former-CP Metro mentioned above], Sintra (see Tourist
Lines, above). The Lisboa system contains the steepest adhesion worked tram
tracks in the world, a gradient of 15% on route 28 on the west side of the city.
Trolleybuses:
Coimbra. Trolleybuses in Porto were withdrawn in 1997.
The Light Rail Transit Association's publication,
The Tramways of Portugal (now in its
fourth edition) can be recommended for fuller details of Portugal's now much
diminished tram systems.
Special Notes:
Cascais (Estoril
Railway) is now almost certainly the westernmost railhead in Europe (Valencia
Harbour in Ireland held that honour until closure in 1960).
Timetable direction contains a trap for
the unwary: circulaçoes ascendentes
(which one might translate as "up trains") are travelling away from the major
terminal (and thus the opposite of British practice); such trains carry odd
numbers (equivalent of French impair).
Ramal = branch line;
conc. (concordancia) = chord or connection;
ap. (apeadeiro) = halt;
bif. (bifurcação) = junction.
Recent and Future Changes:
The local services between Vendas Novas and Setil were replaced by buses from
12 December 2004 leaving just the once a week pair of trains between Porto
Campanhã and Faro running on Table 315 - see PT05/03.
These trains use the east to north curve towards Santarém, so the east to south
curve into Setil station closed to passenger services on 11 December 2004.
From an unknown date but by at least late November 2004, a service resumed
over the link connecting Lisboa Santa Apolonia and Entrecampos via Bif de
Xabregas – Bif de Chelas.
Considerable up-grading work (in many cases with electrification) has been
underway on main lines in all parts of the country in connection with the Euro
2004 Football Championship. As well as converting former-CP metre gauge lines in Porto to be part of the Metro system, other broad gauge
lines radiating from Porto have been electrified for various distances. The previously metre gauge, now standard
gauge and electrified branch from Lousado to
Guimarães reopened on Sunday 18th January 2004 with many sections realigned.
Likewise the former single track Braga branch was closed for
electrification and complete rebuilding in November 2002 and reopened as a
double track electrified line on 21 April 2004. Electrification and realignment works on the
main line from Lisboa to the Algarve have also been completed with through
electric services commencing on 6 June 2004. This included a new line from
Pinhal Novo to Fogueteiro that has had a limited through
Faro – Oriente diesel service since 24 July
2003. From 6 June 2004 the service to Beja was also diverted via this new line
to Oriente, leaving Barriero with
just diesel suburban services, mainly to and from Prais-Sado via Setubal; the
14.4km section onwards to Ponte da Marateca and the Linha do Sul was closed to
passengers but remaining open for freight from that date.
From 6 June 2004, the daily cross border service from Abrantes to
Badajoz [RENFE] was withdrawn, closing the 15km section from Elvas to Badajoz to
passenger traffic.
It had been suggested that all Douro and Minho
regional and inter-regional trains would terminate in the new bay platforms at
Porto Campanhã from the Summer 2004 timetable, as diesel trains were to be banned from the tunnel to Porto São
Bento, but through trains remain.
It has been announced that the railway from Pochino to Barca de Alva on the
Douro Valley line and onwards into Spain will reopen. This was suggested for as early as
Summer 2005 but has slipped to an unknown date, with Pocinho - Barca D'Alva for tourist/boat trains and only cross
border freight.
A freight only branch of over 45km long from the Docks at Sines has also seen
investment with electrification and a new curve built to avoid reversals at
Ermidas-Sado, although other freight only and diversionary lines such as from
Portalegre to Estremoz closed in 2003.
Following installation of a lower deck for trains on the high-level river
Tejo (Tagus) Ponte 25 de Abril (25th April Bridge), local services (operated by
Fertagus) between Entre Campos and Fogueteiro started 29 July 1999. On 7 August
2004 these were extended via the new line to Pinhal Novo and Setubal. An hourly
Barriero - Setubal diesel service currently remains: it has been announced that the Pinhal
Novo to Barriero section will be electrified, but no completion date has been
set.
A new bridge over the river Douro was opened in Porto in 1991, but its
predecessor – designed by Eiffel – remains standing alongside. CP's Tejo ferries
were privatised in 1995 and rail replacement bus services have now disappeared
from their timetables (although some routes may still be running under other
management).
Completely revised March 2004. General revisions (10 June 2004); "Recent and
Future Changes" amended (15 June 2004 & 20 June 2004); "Tourist Lines" and
"Metro" amended (4 July 2004); "Recent and Future Changes" amended (8
November 2004); general update (5 February 2005).
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