Lisbon Oriente train station
The Estação do Oriente station , also Gare do Oriente , in German Ostbahnhof , is a long-distance and regional train station in the northeast of Lisbon on the site of the former Expo 1998 , today Parque das Nações . It is located on the Linha do Norte and is frequented by 75 million travelers every year.
The location allows a stop for all trains that also approach the Santa Apolónia terminus from the north, such as Porto , Coimbra and Madrid . The long-distance trains going south of the Linha do Sul into the Algarve , which run over the April 25th Bridge, also stop at the station. It used to be necessary to take the ferry from Comércio Square in the heart of the old town to the southern Barreiro train station . There are also plans to build a third Tejo bridge . This would then be used to handle train traffic going south in the future.
There is also an underground station of the same name below the train station . Via the Linha Vermelha , which operates there, a connection to downtown Lisbon and to Lisbon Airport is guaranteed. In addition, a large bus station is integrated into the station.
architecture
In a competition in 1994, the architect Santiago Calatrava won against designs by Nicholas Grimshaw and Ricardo Bofill , among others ; a year later, construction work began according to the design, which was based on Gothic style elements. Designed as a through station , the tracks are 14 meters above street level, crossed by a transverse hall below, which connects the bus station with Av. Dom João II and beyond to the entrance of a shopping center, a former Expo 98 exhibition hall. The tracks are spanned by a very light-looking roof structure made of glass, which - visually effective - rests on tree supports (reinforced concrete). Stairs, escalators and elevators lead from the platforms to the transverse hall with ticket offices and kiosks. In the east, this level leads through a commercial gallery to the curved square, via which a shopping center can also be reached.
The station was built as the entrance to Expo '98, and it is designed accordingly generously. The reinforced concrete structures of the building on the floor below the tracks are particularly interesting. In spite of its solidity, the supporting structure conveys an optical lightness and a futuristic impression with its rounded shapes and the inclined, but symmetrical, support structure. The arch shape characterizes the entrance level and continues in many details such as the rounded wing-shaped canopy.
traffic
The station is served by all Linha do Norte trains and serves as the starting point for the Linha do Sul trains. In long-distance traffic, Alfa Pendular trains of the CP series 4000 run from Lisbon Santa Apolónia to Porto-Campanhã every hour , which are extended three times a day to Braga . Alfa trains run twice a day from Porto via Lisbon Oriente and Pinhal Novo to Faro . The long-distance transport offer is supplemented by various Intercidades connections to Porto, Guimarães , Guarda and Covilhã , all of which have their starting point in Santa Apolónia. Oriente is also the starting point for Intercidades connections to Faro and Évora . In international traffic, the night train runs once a day with the train part to Hendaye / Irun ( Sud-Express ) and the train part to Madrid Chamartín ( Lusitânia ).
In regional and suburban transport Oriente is regional - and inter-regional trains on to Entroncamento and Tomar served. In addition, the Linha de Sintra and Linha de Azambuja line families of CP Urbanos de Lisboa serve the Oriente station with different train routes: Lisbon Alcântara-Terra - Azambuja , Lisbon Santa Apolónia - Castanheira do Ribatejo , Sintra - Alverca (only during rush hour) and Mira Sintra -Meleças -Lisbon Oriente.
investment
The station has eight platform tracks, all of them through tracks. They are located on four central platforms. Tracks 1 to 4 are generally used for traffic to / from Santa Apolónia, tracks 5 to 8 are for traffic in the direction of Entrecampos / Linha de Cintura , although there may be deviations from the schedule. The tracks are between 510 and 720 meters long, the platforms are all 309 meters long and the edge is at a height of 60 to 70 centimeters.
In the project for the Lisbon – Madrid high-speed line and the Lisbon – Porto high-speed line , which should have been linked in the Oriente station, an expansion to 16 platform tracks was planned, the new eight should all be built in standard gauge (1435 mm) and the previous ones in Iberian broad gauge (1668 mm) should be left.
Web links
- Information about the Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (Portuguese Railways) Lisboa Oriente Station (Portuguese)
Coordinates: 38 ° 46 ′ 4 " N , 9 ° 5 ′ 57" W.