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Lisbon's Railways, Part 1




CP Class 2600 at Oriente Station

13 February 2008 (partly updated only)

OVERVIEW OF CP LISBON STATIONS FERTAGUS CP MOTIVE POWER
Copyright: ©
Compiled by John Laidlar


Left to right: The old CP logo on a Cascais line carriage: hauled by 76-5607-5, an Oporto-bound service from Lisboa Sta Apolónia passes Moscavide on the northern fringe of Lisbon; a suburban EMU at Oriente. Click on images for larger versions.


Overview of CP- Portuguese Trains


Lisbon's inter-city rail services are part of the Portuguese Railways (CP) network. CP, which used to stand for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (Portuguese Railways) now (2004) stands for Comboios Portugueses (Portuguese Trains). It has four business divisions, which comprise:

  • USGL - Unidade de Suburbanos da Grande Lisboa, responsible for Lisbon suburban services.
  • USGP - Unidade de Suburbanos do Grande Porto, responsible for Oporto suburban services.
  • UTML - Unidade de Transportes de Mercadorias e Logística, responsible for freight services.
  • UVIR - Unidade de Viagens Inter-Regionais - responsible for inter-regional passenger services.
    A national timetable is produced twice-yearly and schedules can also be consulted at the CP Web Site. The suburban services in Lisbon are operated by the Unidade de Suburbanos da Grande Lisboa (USGL). Three routes are operated on the Lisbon side of the Tagus; these are the
  • Linha de Cascais
  • Linha de Sintra
  • Linha de Azambuja. Details of each route are given by clicking on the above links. CP's Web Site also provides information on these services. A description of all of CP's motive power and diesel/electric units is also provided by CP. A newcomer to Lisbon is the private operator, Fertagus, whose services are described below.

    Lisbon Stations

    Santa Apolónia

    This is both the main international and national station of Lisbon but it is also currently the least accessible. It lies about 1km east of the city centre but has only a bus connection. However, the Metro should have reached here in 2000 but is still (2004) far from doing so due to tunneling problems along the waterfront. Sta Apolónia is the terminus for international services from Paris (via Hendaye) and Madrid, as well as for national services to Oporto and Coimbra. Other services from this station include those to Covilhã (motorail) in central Portugal and some services on the Azambuja line, (with a branch to Tomar ), also start here. Portugal's first railway line linked Santa Apolónia with Carregado in 1856.


    Gare do Oriente/ Oriente Station


    L to R: suburban EMU at Oriente station, July 1998; Oriente station seen from the cablecar. Click pictures for larger versions.

    Opened to service the Expo 98 exhibition on an adjacent site, some 5km north of Santa Apolónia, this is the modern architectural masterpiece of Lisbon's railways. Designed by the Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, its glass roof is supported by slender 25 metre high supports resembling trees. Built at a cost of 30 billion escudos (£100 million), it has four platforms and eight tracks. Sadly, its functionality is less impressive than its appearance, for the platforms have no timetables, although platform indicators do indicate each individual platform's departures as they occur. Also, the ticket offices are dispersed around a lower level where it is difficult to identify which are in service and which are not. As there are more than twenty of them, you should allow plenty of time for buying a ticket. All the refreshment facilities are also at a lower level. The height of the station roof affords little protection from cross-winds but, nevertheless, architecturally it is a very striking, airy structure. Physically linked to the station is the Parque das Nações, (the former Expo 98 site), and, adjacent to it, is the Vasco da Gama shopping centre, bus station and Metro station, ('Oriente'). Four pavilions, including the impressive Oceanarium, remain from the Expo but opposite the station there is now a new shopping centre, the Centro Comercial Vasco da Gama. The site is now the home of the Feira Internacional de Lisboa (Lisbon International Trade Fair), an exhibition centre, formerly located at Alcântara near the Ponte 25 de Abril.
    For a diagrammatic sketch of Lisbon's suburban railway system, click here.

    Estação do Rossio/ Rossio Station


    L to R: An engraving of Rossio station made soon after its opening; Rossio station, little changed, in 2003; inside Rossio Station, 2002.

    Housed in a nineteenth-century imitation of the Manueline architectural style, Rossio station is a curiosity in that the platforms are some 30 metres above the main entrance. Most of the intervening space has now been filled in by a rather dingy shopping centre with flights of escalators, though the foyer has been beautifully upgraded (2003). At station level the feeling is pleasant with fine tilework decoration on each side wall. All the normal services from here are suburban trains to the tourist sights (and commuter suburbs) of Sintra via Queluz. These are operated by EMUs built by ADtranz Portugal and these connect with Northern Ring Line services at Cacém. Rossio CP has a Metro connection, though this is with the nearest Metro station at Restauradores, (not with Rossio Metro).

    During 2004 the tunnel which carries all lines out of Rossio station had to be closed due to structural problems; this effectively has closed the station and this remained the case until 16 February 2008 when it was reopened. Till then all Sintra services terminated at Entrecampos Poente after running via Sete Rios and Queluz services are diverted to Roma/Areeiro via Sete Rios and Entrecampos. The Alverca to Queluz service was diverted via Campolide to Alcântara Terra. On reopening of Rossio in February 2008, Sintra trains were diverted back to Rossio, while the Mira Sintra - Melecas trains run to Roma/Areeiro (and Oriente in the peak hours).

    Cais do Sodré

    Situated a kilometre west of the Praça do Comércio, this is the terminus of the Estoril line. It has a Metro, bus and ferry interchange, as well as a taxi rank. On 28 May, 1963 this station was the scene of a major disaster when, due to allegedly shoddy workmanship, a 60ft x 75ft section of the 210ft-long station roof built a year earlier, collapsed on passengers, with 52 fatalities. According to The Times of 29 May 1963, machinery was commandeered from the construction site of the Salazar bridge over the Tagus to lift the collapsed masonry. In 1952 the Line suffered 8 fatalities when a lighthouse collapsed onto a passing train whilst in 1961 a terrorist bomb exploded at Cais do Sodré station.

    The main station booking offices are now disused as the station was remodelled in the late 1990s and the platforms moved about 200 yards further west. Adjacent to the old main entrance is a major bus station, a Carris ticket office and the Transtejo ferry terminal for services to Cacilhas.





    Estação do Sul e Sueste/ South and South East Station



    This is actually a ferry terminal, but train tickets for destinations in southern Portugal are available here as these places can currently only be reached by taking the adjoining SOFLUSA ferry boat service to Barreiro. Sailings are frequent. At Barreiro, a covered walk-way links the ferry terminal to the CP railway station, from whence services leave to Setúbal, Évora, the Algarve and other points in southern and central Portugal. Amongst the loco classes to be seen here are classes 1400, 1500, 1800 and 1900. When the new cross-Tagus rail line is connected to the mainline to the Algarve and the Alentejo, the Barreiro ferry will face a strong challenge to its survival. Barreiro is an all-diesel railway depot whose holdings include the last of class 1500 and 1520. By 2003 Barreiro station will be electrified so the depot is likely to undergo major changes.

    Currently (2002) the Estação do Sul e Sueste is hemmed in by work on the Metro station which is running several years behind schedule.

    Ponte 25 de Abril/ 25th April Bridge

    Opened in 1966 as a road bridge, this structure incorporated from the outset a deck below road-level intended for future rail use. This has now been activated and services, using double-deck stock commenced in 1999. These service comprise suburban services operated by the concessionary company, Fertagus, and a few CP inter-city services.

    Fertagus

    For full details of the cross-Tagus railway services operated by the concessionary, Fertagus, please go to the Fertagus page of this web-site.


    Lisbon Area Railway Plans

  • It was announced in mid-December 1999 that a second rail crossing of the Tagus would be constructed to carry new lines between the northern Lisbon suburb of Chelas and the southern bank of the Tagus at Barreiro. This would be a further threat to the viability of the Lisbon ferry crossing from Sul e Sueste to Barreiro.
  • The Metro do Sul do Tejo is a planned light-rail system which will link the town of Cacilhas, opposite Lisbon, to the stations of Corroios and Fogueteiro on the Fertagus trans-Tagus railway line by 2002. The MST is also expected to connect to Almada and Pragal, with further extensions mooted to the ports of Seixal, Trafaria and Barreiro, as well as to Moita and the Costa da Caparica.
  • New lines linking Alcantara with Oriente and Falagueira with Santa Apolónia are amongst plans yet to be finalised in 2004.

    CP Double-Decker and Trans-Tagus Services


    L to R:A Class 3500 unit; an Alfa Pendular service to Porto- at Oriente in July, 2003; the Class 1800, akin to BR's class 50, could still be seen in service in July, 2000. Here one of the class is seen at the tail of a class 5600 car-transporter train as it speeds through Azambuja.


    CP itself has introduced similar double-deck stock (class 3500) to that of Fertagus, which run as 4-car EMUs. Class 3500s are also known as UQE2P (Unidades Quadrúpulas Elétricas de 2 Pisos; i.e. 4-car electric double-decker units). Tests were run on the Azambuja line from September, 1999 and double-deck sets are now in operation on Azambuja Line services. Twelve sets are on order from Alsthom/CAF in Spain, with the construction-finishing taking place at the ADtranz works at Amadora, near Lisbon. The CP double-deck stock has an attractive green front-end and an otherwise predominantly white livery and runs at up to 140km/hr.

    Fiat Pendolino (tilting-train) sets were introduced across the Tagus from 16 August 1999, when the first Pragal to Oporto service operated. These services, branded as the 'Alfa Pendular' call at Entrecampos and Oriente. Eventually the 25 Abril bridge will carry direct services from the Algarve to Oporto. The Pendolino services, branded as Alfa Pendular, sport a red, white and blue livery. The first service ran from Lisbon to Oporto on 1 July, 1999; the advertised journey time is 3hrs 45 mins. Ten six-car sets have been ordered but delays in delivery meant that only seven of the consignment had been delivered by summer 2000. Eventually, if plans for a second rail-bridge line between Chelas and a point east of Barreiro come to fruition, there will be a circular rail loop across the Tagus. The southern connecting point will be Pinhal Novo from where the existing Barreiro line will branch off across the new bridge to Chelas, whilst the Fertagus line will be completed from Fogueteiro to Pinhal Novo to complete the circle. Fertagus will thus eventually run services between Oriente and Praias do Sado, at Setúbal. From November 2000, 14 Lisbon-Oporto-Lisbon services were being operated by Alfa Pendular sets.

    Other Suburban Stations



    A suburban EMU heads for Entrecampos from Areeiro, April, 1999.
    There are numerous suburban railway stations in Lisbon, including those at Areeiro and Entrecampos on the so-called Northern Ring Line. The remodelled station at Campolide has become increasingly important now that the newly-completed train deck on the Ponte 25 de Abril is open to services. Cacém, to the north west, is a busy suburban station on the line to Sintra.

    News

    A major review of Portuguese railway operation is included in Today's Railways magazine, nos.56/57, the July and August 2000 issues. The first part is a 'General overview' with details of depots and locomotives. Part two covers multiple units and high-speed plans in Portugal.

    In December 2005, the Portugues government announced plans for upgrading the Lisbon to Oproto route for 300km an hour running. This would involve a new route via the proposed new airport for Lisbon at Ota and would also require a new bridge across the Douro at Oporto.

    For details of Portuguese motive power and multiple units, go to the Railways, Part 2 section of this site.
    Copyright: ©
    Compiled by John Laidlar