Portugal - General Information

Country Name

Portugal (Portugal)

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 most trains. Both are state-owned.

Official Website

www.cp.pt

Language

Portuguese.

Currency

Euro.

UIC code

numeric 94; alpha P.

Timetable

Journey Planner

www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=a4f6f9e12a584010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD, then use the "Timetable Search" function.

Downloadable Timetable

www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=a4f6f9e12a584010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD, then choose from "Timetables in PDF Format".

Printed Timetable

None issued. Leaflets are available for Alfa Pendular / Intercidades (InterCity) and for suburban services around Lisboa and Porto. Fertagus issue their own timetable booklet. No printed material appears to be available for Regional services, only timetable board display posters; travellers by such services would be well advised to make their own print outs of the relevant web pages (which are the display posters).

Engineering Information

www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=6377f9e12a584010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD

Maps

A simplistic CP plan (click English flag, then select "Travelling in Portugal") is available. More detailed maps are at REFER's site and in their Network Statement, page 50 onwards. Quail Map Company's Portugal Railway Map (third edition) was published in 2010.

Ticketing

CP has introduced a national INTRA_RAIL pass for all travellers, in addition to the existing one for young people. See the CP website, select English (small flag), then Traveling in Portugal > Intra_Rail.

Gauge

1668mm, with four separate systems of metre gauge (Aveiro/Espinho – Sernada do Vouga; Livração – Amarante; Régua – Vila Real; Tua – Mirandela)

Electrification

25 kV 50 Hz, except for the former Estoril Railway from Lisboa Cais do Sodré to Cascais which is 1500V dc

Rule of the road

Left

Private Railways

• Sociedade Metropolitano Ligeiro de Mirandela. Mirandela Metro, operating over its own infrastructure - 4.1km of ex CP Metre gauge line: Mirandela Piaget (close to CP station and adjacent to bus station) - Carvalhais. Their units also operate the 13 km Cachão – Mirandela section of the Linha do Tua, owned by REFER.
• Travessia do Tejo, Transportes SA: Fertagus: (Lisboa) Roma-Areeiro - Campolide - (over Ponte 25 de Abril) - Pragal - Pinhal Novo - Setúbal. Operates daily. [operating on REFER infrastructure]

Tourist Lines

• Sintra Atlântico Tramway [http://www.cm-sintra.pt/Artigo.aspx?ID=3202 (Metre gauge): Runs from Sintra (terminus in front of Vila Alda, close to the Museu de Arte Moderna in the Estefânea district - 8 mins walk from CP station) to Praia das Maçãs (ca. 12 km); operated seasonally by Sintra town council with scheduled services FSSuO June - September. In 2011 the season was extended to 30th October. Earlier plans to extend back to Sintra CP station seem to have evaporated.
• Transpraia: (600mm gauge): Costa de Caparica - Fonte da Telha (7km); operates daily, June to September.
• Barril railway: (600mm gauge): Pedras d'el Rei - Praia do Barril (beach) (1km); operates frequently, during summer.

Metros

Lisboa; Porto; Sul do Tejo. Metro Mondego is under construction, incorporating CP's now-closed Ramal da Lousã (Serpins branch), to serve the communities of Coimbra, Lousã and Miranda do Corvo.

Trams

Lisboa (five routes); Porto (three routes); 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.

The Light Rail Transit Association's publication, The Tramways of Portugal can still be recommended (despite being somewhat dated, its fourth edition having been published in 1995).

Recent and Future Changes

Services between Lisboa and Evora restarted on 25 July 2011 after upgrading and electrification.

It is likely that in 2011 some lines will be closed completely, a number will lose their passenger service and others suffer reduced services, although no official announcement has been made as yet.

Lines likely to lose their Regional passenger service:

• Torre das Vargens – Marvão Beira (under serious threat)
• Abrantes – Elvas – Badajoz [RENFE]: the service, withdrawn in 2004, was restored at the end of 2009 but is again under serious threat.
• Beja – Funcheira
• Ermesinde – Leça do Balio. The Leixões branch closed to passengers in 1987. Ermesinde (not Contumil) – Leça reopened in 2009 and the remainder to Leixões was to follow. However, poor passenger loadings and a much more direct service to the centre of Porto by Metro appear to have sounded the death knell for this line.
• Setil – Coruche. The ‘experimental’ passenger rail service was withdrawn from 1 October 2011 owing to lack of demand.

Reduced Regional services

• Porto – Valença (Linha do Minho)
• Douro valley line (beyond Caíde), which must cast considerable doubt on the proposed reopening of Pocinho to Barca d’Alva.
• Tunes to Lagos and Vila Real de S Antonio (Algarve)
• Cacém – Caldas de Rainha - Figueira da Foz (Linha do Oeste): it is not known how much of this line is threatened in this way.

Formal closure:

• Livração – Amarante (Linha do Tamega)
• Régua – Vila Real (Linha do Corgo)

The service on these two lines above has been replaced by buses since February 2009. It appears that the refurbishment work has been halted, although all the track had been removed and most trackbed and signalling works completed.

• (Tua –) Cachão – Mirandela (Linha do Tua). Units of the Mirandela Metro still operate the 13 km Cachão - Mirandela section, although it is not certain how long this will last. Tua - Cachão is served by taxi and now lost forever owing to construction work on a new dam.
• Pampilhosa – Figueira da Foz. Reinstatement work will stop on this line, whose service has been replaced by buses since 2009, although it is unclear if the work was ever started.

The Ramal da Lousã (Coimbra – Serpins branch) closed for conversion to metro operation (Metro Mondego), but this may now be cancelled with buses remaining instead.

A cutoff bypassing 35 km of the Linha do Sul (Lisboa - Tunes) round Alcácer do Sal was opened in December 2010.

Considerable upgrading work (in many cases with electrification) has been undertaken on main lines in recent years - including a new route to the Algarve via the Ponte de 25 Abril bridge (opened 1999) over the Tagus in Lisboa. However, it is reported that the financial crisis has caused cancellation of the first phase of the Lisboa - Poceirao LGV, including the new Tagus bridge.

As well as converting former CP metre gauge lines in Porto to be part of a standard (1435mm) gauge Metro system or to broad gauge (Guimarães branch), broad gauge lines radiating from that city have been electrified for various distances. A new 3 km line (variante Trofa ) bypassing the old Trofa station opened on 16 August 2010, whereupon the old line closed.

A new 9km freight line serving Aveiro docks opened in 2010.

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.

See also

• Portugal
• Portugal - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services