Trams in Portugal

Trams in Portugal have generally been traditional electric cars in large cities such as Lisbon, Porto and Sintra. Portuguese tram routes are typically, but not necessarily, tourist attractions.

Tramways are usually embedded in the older parts of Portuguese cities. They are intended primarily for carrying passengers, and as a means of rapid transportation, since the trams usually have priority over the remaining traffic.

Trams came to Portugal in the following sequence: Porto (1895), Lisbon (1901), Sintra (1904), Coimbra (1911) and Braga (1914). The first three of these networks are still in operation; the remaining two have been closed.

Lisbon

The "amarelos da Carris" (English:Yellows of the Rails) are a symbol of Lisbon, plying the narrow streets, steep and winding.

The Lisbon tramway network is operated by Carris. It presently comprises 5 lines, and has a total length of 48 km (30 mi)^[1] in 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) gauge, of which 13 km (8.1 mi) is on reserved tracks.

Carris employs 165 brakemen (conductors of trams), funiculars and an elevator (the Santa Justa lift) and a runs a fleet of 57 tram vehicles (39 historical, 10 articulated trams and 8 light rail cars),^[1] based at a single depot - Santo Amaro.

Porto

The tramway network in the city of Porto is operated by Sociedade de Transportes Colectivos do Porto (STCP).

There are three different Porto tram routes:

Line 1: Passeio Alegre//Infante
Line 18: Massarelos// Carmo
Line 22: Circular Carmo//Batalha

The STCP tram fleet is housed at the Massarelos depot next to the STCP Tram Museum.

Sintra

The Sintra tramway is a seasonal narrow gauge interurban tram line. It links the town of Sintra, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-west of Lisbon, with the Atlantic coast at Praia das Maçãs, a distance of some 11.5 kilometres (7.1 mi). As of 2014, the line runs Friday to Sunday in summer months.^[2]

The line opened in 1904 and originally linked Sintra railway station and Praia das Maçãs. Winter service ended in 1953, and the line continued to run as a summer only service until 1974, when it closed. Service resumed over a short stretch near the coast in 1980, and service has been extended back to Sintra in several sections over the intervening years.^[2]

Coimbra

Coimbra saw its first tram circulating in the streets on 10 November 1911. For decades, with more or fewer lines, the tram was an efficient way to move citizens around Coimbra.

Although in this period there was not environmental awareness in its present form, trams were a means of non-polluting transport that allowed Coimbra have an air quality unmatched today.

Nevertheless, in the late 1970s the trams were considered to be old fashioned, noisy and uncomfortable. Politicians and others were then promoting their rapid decline with the closing of the different lines. The last tram ran in Coimbra on 9 January 1980.

Braga

The Braga tramway network opened on 5 October 1914, replacing the old Braga horsecar network. It consisted of two routes:

Line 1: Estação caminho de ferro (English: Railway station) to Elevador do Bom Jesus;
Line 2: Largo do Monte de Arcos to Parque da Ponte.

The network was finally closed in 1963, and replaced by the Braga trolleybus system. The tracks remained in place until the 1980s.

References

^ ^a ^b "Daytime Service - Tram". Carris website. Carris. Retrieved 22 September 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
^ ^a ^b "Sintra trams". Ernst Kers. Retrieved 2014-06-04.

External links

Media related to Trams in Portugal at Wikimedia Commons

Railway lines⁺ in Portugal
including trolleybuses, cable cars and elevators

IP
Iberian-gauge
railwaysᴮ^#

Wyes	Agualva Águas de Moura Bombel Ermidas Funcheira Nine† Norte Setil Poceirão São Gemil Sete Rios Tunes† Verride Xabregas

IP
metre-gauge
railways¹^#

Linha do Douro branch lines	Ave/Basto‡† Côa‡† Corgo† Lamego‡† Sabor† Tâmega† Tua†‡ Metro de Mirandela†° Transversal do Minho‡† Chacim‡† Valpaços‡† Vinhais‡† Crestuma‡†
Porto-Minho network	Alto Minho‡† Braga-Chaves‡† Braga-Guimarães‡† Guimarães↑ Lima‡†° Matosinhos† Póvoa e Famalicão↑ São Pedro da Cova‡† Litoral do Minho‡† Lanhoso‡† Transversal do Minho‡† Famalicão‡† Cávado‡†
Vouga/Viseu network	Aveiro Aveiro-Mar† Dão† Vouga
Other	Chamusca‡† Penafiel† Avis‡† Cacilhas‡† Pedreiras de Caxias†

Other
heavy-rail
lines^#

High-speed linesⁱ	Aveiro-Salamancaⁱ‡† Évora-Faro-Huelvaⁱ‡† Lisboa-Madridⁱ‡† Lisboa-Portoⁱ‡† Porto-Vigoⁱ‡†
Isolated port railways	Horta²†° Lena¹⁶†° Monges⁶†° Pego do Altar⁶†° Pejão⁶†° Ponta Delgada²†° Pomarão¹†° Funchal¹†° Aljustrel (mines)³†° Alfeite† São Pedro da Cova mine† Leixões (port)† Panasqueira† Lousal†

Tourist, urban,
industrial and
military lines

Metros

Lisbon Metroⁱ	Blue Yellow Green Red
Porto Metroⁱ	A B C D E F G‡

Trams

Braga⁹†
Coimbra¹†
Faro¹‡†
Lisbon⁹
Portoⁱ
Sintra¹††

Trolleybuses

Amadora‡
Braga†
Coimbra
Porto†

Beach railways

Caparica⁶
Barril⁶

Other mechanical
non-electric systems

Larmanjat⁴⁺†
Braga⁹↑
Póvoa de Varzim†
Mira†
Torres Novas†
Pinhal de Leiria†
Escola de Engenharia in Tancos†
Ponta Delgada a Furnas e RibeirA Grande‡†
Palácio de Cristal†

Horsecars

Aveiro†
Braçal†
Braga⁹↑
Coimbra↑
Linha do Corgo↑
Elvas†
Figueira da Foz†
Funchal⁶†
Lisbon↑
Portoⁱ↑
Póvoa de Varzim↑
S. Jacinto†
S. Pedro Muel†
Torreira†
Campo Entrincheirado de Lisboa†
Fort of Trafaria†
Fort of São Julião da Barra†
Polígono de Tancos†
Funchal - Câmara Lobos‡†
São Martinho de Porto†
Fábrica de Pólvora†
Companhia das Lezírias†
São Vicente - Santana‡†

Funiculars

Bica⁹
Bom Jesusⁱ
Castelo Branco‡
Freiras†
Glória⁹
Guindais††
Lavra⁹
Nazaré
Ourém‡
Santa Luzia††
Sintra‡†
Tomar‡†
Viseu

Cable cars and
rack railways
(including aerial lifts
and people movers)

Surface	Estrela↑ Graça↑ Monte¹†‡ S. J. Malta‡ São Sebastião† SATUOeiras†
Gondola lifts	Achadas da Cruz Aroeira‡† Botânico Cabo Girão Cântaro Covão Expo Fajã dos Padres Funchal-Monte Gaia Garajau Lagoa Penha Rocha do Navio Sete Fontes‡ Skiparque Torre Viriato Zoo

Elevators

Boca do Vento
Carpinteira-Jardim‡
Castelo‡‡
Chiado†
Goldra‡
Mercado
Município†
Outeiro
Ribeira
Peneco
Santa Justa
Santo André

Symbols

Track gauges

⁺ names abbreviated whenever possible

° heavy rail

^# not managed by IP (and/or its predecessors)

† closed (completely)

‡ planned

†† reopened

†‡ reopening planned

‡† cancelled project

‡‡ planned using former project

↑ replaced using former trackbed

² 7 ft 1⁄4 in (2,140 mm) Brunel gauge

ᴮ 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge

ⁱ 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) Standard gauge

¹ 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in) Metre gauge

³ 3 ft (914 mm) 3-foot gauge

⁹ 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in) 900 mm gauge

⁶ 600 mm (1 ft 11+5⁄8 in) 2-foot/600 mm gauge

⁴⁺ Larmanjat monorail

Source for IP's network: www.refer.pt/Documentos/Directorio_da_Rede_2010.pdf, page. 54

See also: Rolling stock of Portugal

v t e Urban public transport networks and systems in Portugal
Rapid transit	Lisbon
Light rail	Mondego* Porto Sul do Tejo
Trams	Lisbon Porto Sintra
Commuter rail	Lisbon Mirandela* Porto
Trolleybuses	Coimbra
* Indicates defunct system. Italics denote planned or under construction systems.

v t e Trams in Europe
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