Lisbon Metro


The Lisbon Metro is the rapid transit system of Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first metro system in Portugal.
, the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations.

History

Idea

The idea of building a system of underground railways for the city of Lisbon first arose in 1888. It was first proposed by Henrique de Lima e Cunha, a military engineer who had published a proposal in the journal Obras Públicas e Minas for a network with several lines that could serve the Portuguese capital. Concrete plans took longer to evolve, though. Lanoel Aussenac d'Abel and Abel Coelho presented theirs in 1923, and José Manteca Roger and Juan Luque Argenti theirs one year later, in 1924. None of these plans were carried out.
After World War II, in which Portugal remained neutral, the national economy took off and the financial possibilities arising from the Marshall Plan provided a strong boost to the potential construction of a metro in Lisbon. A society was formed on 26 January 1948 with the purpose of studying the technical and economic feasibility of the project.

The beginning

Construction began on 7 August 1955, and four years later, on 29 December 1959, the Lisbon Metro was inaugurated. The network was formed by a Y-shaped line linking Restauradores to Rotunda, branching then to Entre Campos and to Sete Rios, where the rolling stock depot which was also linked to the outer-loop Cintura Line of CP was located.
The new system was well received by the public, and in the first year the Metro carried more than 15.3 million passengers. The metro has proved an important factor in urban development of the city, outlining new areas of housing and services. In 1963 it was expanded from Restauradores to Rossio, then further to Anjos and finally to Alvalade.
After this first extension, no further stations were opened until 1988. In 1974, after the Carnation Revolution, the management model was changed, being nationalized in 1975 and renamed Metropolitano de Lisboa, EP in 1978. Under the new management, works were carried to enlarge platforms, originally designed to receive two cars, so that these could receive four cars.

The 1980s

The 1980s were marked by several extension programmes. First from Alvalade to Calvanas, in 1980, then from Sete Rios to Colégio Militar/Luz in 1982, and Calvanas to Campo Grande in 1983.
In 1984, works began to extend Entre Campos to Campo Grande, when plans to build a station at Calvanas, near the Júlio de Matos hospital, had already been abandoned.
By the end of the decade, on 14 October 1988, the extension connecting Sete Rios to Colégio Militar/Luz was inaugurated, opening three stations: Laranjeiras, with artwork by Sá Nogueira, Alto dos Moinhos, and Colégio Militar/Luz. Cidade Universitária opened at the same time, as part of the extension from Entre Campos to Campo Grande. These four stations were the first to be built from scratch with platforms long enough to receive six cars and with artwork in the platforms themselves.

The 1990s

In 1990, the Network Expansion Plan was presented, which included extensions from Rossio to Cais do Sodré and from Restauradores to Baixa-Chiado, splitting the Y in Rotunda and the extension Colégio Militar/Luz–Pontinha.
In 1991, the first prototype of the ML90 car series was presented, consisting of two triple units of six cars, built by Sorefame/Bombardier. These cars had a digital destination sign, were generally more comfortable and could operate with or without the trailer. The motor cars in these two triple units were also the only ones to have a front door to the cab, which was not included in further batches.
On 3 April 1993, the elevated Campo Grande station opened, along with the expansions Alvalade–Campo Grande and Cidade Universitária–Campo Grande. With this extensions, the network grew. In the same month, the ML90 prototype cars were used for the first time.
In 1993, the second Network Expansion Plan was presented, intended to serve Expo '98. It recommended that the Metro should operate the following routes by 1999:
The PMO II depot at Campo Grande was finished in the autumn of 1994 after eleven years of works. At the end of this year, the second batch of ML90 was ordered, consisting of 17 triple units. On 15 July 1995, lines were finally split at Rotunda, with Metro now operating in two lines: Line A, between Colégio Militar/Luz and Campo Grande, through Rossio, and Line B, between Campo Grande and Rotunda. The old Rotunda station was extended from 75 to 105 metres and totally refurbished, while the new station already had a dock with 105 metres.
By the end of 1996, the second batch of ML 90 was ready; colors and materials used in this second batch differed somewhat from that made up the first. The rolling stock was now composed of 191 coaches: 80 of them ML7, 54 ML90 and 57 ML79. On 18 October 1997, the Seagull line expansion from Colégio Militar/Luz to Pontinha opened, expanding the network by 1.6 kilometres. In December of the same year, Rato opened, from Rotunda II. Orders for new rolling stock continued in 1997, when half of the cars now known as ML95 were delivered. These new coaches, which look similar to ML90, have some technical differences, like a different engine and electrical door control. The new logo of the Lisbon Metro was first inserted into these new coaches.
1998 was a year when most of the said expansion projects were completed; as early as March the names of four stations had changed:
In April the section Rossio - Cais do Sodré was opened, with two stations: Baixa-Chiado and Cais do Sodré, the latter connecting to the train and boat stations.
The Red Line would be inaugurated on 19 May 1998, three days before the opening of Expo 98. This line was long and included five new stations: Alameda II, Olaias, Bela Vista, Chelas, and Oriente; the line began running six car trains beginning in June of that year on an experimental basis in order to satisfy the demand of passengers visiting Lisbon during Expo '98. By this time, the entire ML95 series had been delivered, numbered M-301 to M-414.
Later in 1998, Olivais and Cabo Ruivo opened as infill stations on the Red Line, between Chelas and Oriente. The rolling stock was then composed of 305 cars – 80 ML7, 54 ML79, 57 ML90 and 114 ML95, and the network comprised 40 stations.
In 1999, the PMO III depot opened near the Pontinha station, replacing the old PMO I depot at Sete Rios, in an event where the prototype of the future car series was presented, which would consist of 18 articulated triple units. The main difference from the previous series was the possibility of free movement between each car. In addition, the prototype had a more modern image, and also introduced digital automatic passenger information. According to the operator, the trailer of these triple units can be removed, although this has never been witnessed. The first cars were issued during 1999, numbered M-501 to M-554. The rolling stock, at the turn of the millennium, was made of 361 cars of five train types, the largest number of train cars to date before the retirement of the ML7 and ML79 series in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

2000s

In 2002, under Manuel Frasquilho's tenure as president, the Green Line was expanded from Campo Grande to Telheiras. Two years later, in 2004, the network spanned the geographical limits of the city: first, in March, with the expansion of the Yellow Line from Campo Grande to Odivelas ; then, in May, the Blue Line was extended from Pontinha to Amadora Este.
On 19 December 2007, after 11 years of construction, the extension was opened between Baixa-Chiado and Santa Apolónia, with some controversy and many successive delays due to the difficulty of construction. In 2000, when three years would be expected in its completion, there were cracks in the tunnel that led to land subsidence. The consequent flooding of the tunnel seriously slowed down the completion of work and road traffic at the Praça do Comércio and part of the Avenida Infante D. Henrique was forced to be cut temporarily. A new tunnel was made in place of the first. The stations themselves were completed in the summer of 2007.
On 29 August 2009, the Red Line section between Alameda II and São Sebastião II was inaugurated, such that all lines now cross each other.
On 17 July 2012, the Red Line was extended between Oriente and Aeroporto, adding to the network. Three new stations have been inaugurated: Moscavide, Encarnação and Aeroporto, which is directly linked to the Lisbon Portela Airport. A journey from the central Saldanha station to the Lisbon Airport now only lasts about 16 minutes. The Oriente Line also serves the Moscavide neighbourhood, and will carry some 400 000 extra passengers each year.

Future expansion

On 8 May 2017, the government of Portugal announced an extension of the Yellow Line to Cais do Sodré as part of a . The extension, which would connect the Yellow Line with the Green Line and was expected to open in 2024, would contain two new stations at Estrela and Santos; Campo Grande would also be reconstructed as part of the project. Construction on this extension was initially expected to begin in early 2019. Once the extension is placed into service, the Green and Yellow lines would be reorganised: the Green Line would run as a circular route and would take over the section of the Yellow Line between Campo Grande and Rato, while the Yellow Line would run between Odivelas and Telheiras. This extension has been opposed by several groups, including the government of Odivelas and the PSD; the latter proposed a bill to the government in July 2019 that would call for the suspension of the project in favour of a metro extension into Loures. The government of Portugal announced the suspension of the project on 5 February 2020 due to budgetary concerns.
Planning for an extension of the Red Line from São Sebastião to Campolide is currently on hold.

Timeline

The Lisbon Metro comprises four lines running on of route and serving 56 stations. The lines were formerly known by picturesque names; logos based on the former names are still used. These picturesque names are still used as secondary names.
ColourNameTerminalsStationsLengthHistory
Linha Azul
Blue Line
Linha da Gaivota
Seagull Line		Santa Apolónia
–
Reboleira		18
1959: Sete Rios – Restauradores
1988: Sete Rios – Colégio Militar
1997: Colégio Militar-Luz – Pontinha
1998: Baixa-Chiado
2004: Pontinha – Amadora Este
2007: Baixa-Chiado – Santa Apolónia
2016: Amadora Este – Reboleira
Linha Amarela
Yellow Line
Linha do Girassol
Sunflower Line		Rato
–
Odivelas		13
1959: Entre Campos – Restauradores
1988: Entre Campos – Cidade Universitária
1993: Cidade Universitária – Campo Grande
1997: Rotunda – Rato
2004: Campo Grande – Odivelas
Linha Verde
Green Line
Linha da Caravela
Caravel Line		Cais do Sodré
–
Telheiras		13
1963: Rossio – Alvalade
1993: Alvalade – Campo Grande
1998: Baixa-Chiado – Cais do Sodré
2002: Campo Grande – Telheiras
Linha Vermelha
Red Line
Linha do Oriente
Orient Line		São Sebastião
–
Aeroporto		12
1998: Alameda – Oriente
2009: Alameda – São Sebastião
2012: Oriente – Aeroporto

Map

Operation

Operating hours and frequency

Metro service starts every day at 06:30 and stops at 01:00. However, some station exits close before 01:00. Trains run at a 5–8 minutes headway.

Ticketing and fares

There are two methods of payment:
Both cards can also be used on other modes of transport like Fertagus, CP and the Transtejo & Soflusa ferry service.

Rolling stock

Current

Currently, four types of trains are in service on the Lisbon Metro. Unlike most metro systems, the trains do not have any form of air conditioning due to the small size of the tunnels.
The architecture and decor of an underground station is a key element for the well-being of passengers, and art works to make travel more appealing. Lisbon Metro is one of the various underground systems in the world where art is best represented, much like the Munich U-Bahn in Germany, Moscow Metro in Russia, Montreal Metro in Canada and the Stockholm metro in Sweden. From the beginning, there was a concern to make a smooth visual transition between surface and underground. Architect Francisco Keil do Amaral designed a station model, which was used as a template for all stations built until 1972. In this model, the decor was very moderate, with smooth but firm lines, much like the Portuguese political regime at the time. The original eleven stations, except Avenida, had artwork by his wife, painter Maria Keil.
In 1988, with the completion of new expansions, there was still a concern about organizing and decorating stations, thus these stations featured works by contemporary Portuguese artists: Rolando de Sá Nogueira in Laranjeiras, Júlio Pomar in Alto dos Moinhos, Manuel Cargaleiro in Colégio Militar/Luz, and Vieira da Silva in Cidade Universitária.
Since then, art has become the norm in the Lisbon Metro; lighting plays with the brightness of the azulejo tiles that are present in almost every station. In recent years, the oldest stations have been refurbished, not only to enhance the decor and aesthetics, but also to improve accessibility for passengers with reduced mobility. Parque station is generally considered to be the most valuable and interesting of them all, where the tiles reflect and work on Fernando Pessoa's universal literary heritage.