Lisbon Santa Apolonia train station

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Entrance building of Lisbon's Santa Apolónia train station
Hall of the Santa Apolónia train station
Monument to the Portuguese emigrants in front of the train station

The Lisbon Santa Apolónia train station , in Portuguese Estação de Caminhos de Ferro de Santa Apolónia , [ɯʃtɐˈsɐ̃u dɯ kɐˈmiɲuʃ dɯ ˈfɛʁu də 'sɐ̃tɐ ɐpolɔɲa] , is a terminus station opened in 1865 in the city center of the Portuguese capital Lisbon ; it is located on the banks of the Tagus in the São Vicente district . All trains from northern Portugal and also from Spain and France, which are not extended to southern Portugal, end and start at the station. So come in the station almost all Portuguese Zugskategorien from the hotel train on the Alfa Pendular to suburban trains together. It therefore takes on the function of a main train station in the Portuguese capital. Below the railway station is the Santa Apolónia subway station of the same name .

History of the station

The very first trains in Portugal ran in 1856 from the so-called Cais dos Soldados , in German "Soldiers 'platform" or "Soldiers' quay", to Carregado, 36 kilometers away, near the town of Vila Franca de Xira . This very provisional platform was located near today's train station. This formed the basis for the further expansion of the Portuguese railway; from 1861 the first trains went to Santarém , from 1863 to Spain via Elvas . In order to meet the corresponding prestige constraints in the Portuguese capital for the growing rail traffic, the royal railway company Companhia Real dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses had a one-story station building built for the terminus on May 1, 1865. The name Santa Apolónia , in English Saint Apollonia , comes from a female monastery of the same name, which was previously located on today's station grounds.

Since the opening of the Santa Apolónia station and the Cais do Sodré station two kilometers to the west in 1895, there were plans to connect the Linha do Norte from Santarém and the Linha de Cascais from the western suburbs of Cascais and Estoril and under the inner-city Praça do Comércio to build a possibly underground central station. Because this idea cannot be financed, this planning is no longer pursued today.

Due to the fact that this plan was not implemented, the Santa Apolónia station developed more and more into the main train station of Lisbon, despite the relatively large distance to the center of Lisbon around the Praça do Comércio and the Praça da Figueira for inner-city conditions . Before the opening of the station and the relocation of all international trains to Santa Apolónia, this function was held by the station at Rossio .

From 1877, with the completion of the Douro Bridge Ponte Maria Pia in Porto , direct trains between the two largest cities in Portugal were possible for the first time. Due to the growing importance of the railway in general and the Santa Apolónia station , the state railways decided to convert the reception and station building. Since 1908, the station building has been largely the same to the present day. Two trains go right under the hall and stop more or less directly at the entrance. In addition, there are two more outer platforms with four tracks, the trains for this stop just in front of the hall.

On June 10, 1981, on the Portuguese national holiday, the city administration erected a memorial for the numerous Portuguese emigrants with the title "Ao emigrante português" ("For the Portuguese emigrants") on the initiative of the Portuguese newspaper Tempo . The Santa Apolónia train station always played a special role in this, as it still represents the “gateway to the world” thanks to its international train connections. For many emigrants, their journey into the “new life” began at this train station. For example, around two million Portuguese live in France alone today, and around 150,000 in Germany.

In connection with the extension of the metro in 2007, the operator of the Portuguese rail network and the station facilities, REFER , had the station completely renovated. In general, more space was created and the lighting improved, and the sky-blue paintwork, the doors, windows and the floor were also to be renewed. Because the station is also a destination for Interrail tourists, REFER pays special attention to multilingualism with a special international counter.

traffic

The station has the actual main station function for Lisbon, even if the Oriente station is to take over this. The station is served by various local and long-distance connections and is also the end point for trains from abroad.

Long-distance transport

Regional traffic

future

There are plans to build a third Tejob bridge north of the station so that long-distance traffic would then only be handled via Lisbon Oriente station . These plans were postponed indefinitely in 2012 due to funding problems. If this becomes relevant again one day, the Lisbon city administration could, as in 2008, plan to close the station and sell the railway site in favor of the indebted state rail network operator REFER; the station building is then to be converted into a cruise ship terminal. The local economy and also the railway company CP contradicted the plans.

Santa Apolónia Metro Station

The station has been connected to the Lisbon metro network since 2007

Construction work for an extension of the Linha Azul metro line (blue line) began in 1997, but dragged on because of the very complicated subsoil and severe water ingress. Ultimately, the operating company of the Lisbon Metro, the Metropolitano de Lisboa, EP , was able to put the line between the Baixa-Chiado train stations and the Santa Apolónia train station into operation on December 19, 2007.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Comboios de Portugal (ed.): Os caminhos-de-ferro portugueses 1856-2006 , [The Portuguese Railways 1856-2006], ISBN 989-619-078-X ; page 12
  2. ↑ Encerramento de Santa Apolónia deve ser equacionado após expansão da Gare do Oriente ( Memento from June 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) , [Closure of Santa Apolónia must be considered after the expansion of the Oriente station], Público , April 17, 2008
  3. ↑ Leonor Matias Costa defende fim de Santa Apolonia ( Memento of 21 April 2008 at the Internet Archive ) , [Costa defended the end of Santa Apolonia], Diário de Notícias , April 18th 2008
  4. ↑ Gina Pereira and Nuno Miguel Ropio: Santa Apolónia sem comboios desagrada a utentes e comércio ( Memento of April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) , [Santa Apolónia without trains annoys customers and trade], Jornal de Notícias , April 19, 2008
  5. ↑ http://ww1.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?article=315009&visual=26&rss=0 (link not available) , [Metro: network wins two additional stations at Terreiro do Paço and in Santa Apolónia], RTP . pt, December 19, 2007

Web links

Commons : Lisbon Santa Apolónia Train Station  - Collection of images, videos and audio files


Coordinates: 38 ° 42 ′ 50.5 ″  N , 9 ° 7 ′ 21.9 ″  W.