Linha Azul

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Linha Azul
Line of the Linha Azul
map
Route length: 13 km
   
Amadora-Sintra Hospital planned
   
Amadora-Centro planned
   
Atalaia planned
   
Reboleira connection to Linha de Sintra
   
Amadora Este
   
Alfornelos
BSicon .svgBSicon utABZgl + l.svgBSicon utKDSTeq.svg
Depot PMO III
   
Pontinha
   
Carnide
   
Benfica planned
   
Uruguai planned
   
Colégio Militar / Luz
   
Alto dos Moinhos
   
Laranjeiras
   
Jardim Zoológico connection to Sete Rios train station ( Linha de Cintura )
   
Praça de Espanha
   
Former branch to the PMO I depot
   
planned connection to Linha Vermelha
   
São Sebastião connection to Linha Vermelha
   
Parque
   
Link to Linha Amarela
   
Marquês de Pombal connection to Linha Amarela
   
Avenida
   
Restauradores connection to Rossio train station ( Linha de Sintra )
   
Connection to Linha Verde
   
Baixa-Chiado connection to Linha Verde
   
Terreiro do Paço Connection to the Terreiro do Paço ferry terminal
   
Alfândega planned
   
Santa Apolónia connection to Linha do Norte

The Linha Azul , also called Linha da Gaivota , is a metro line on the Lisbon Metro . With a length of 13 kilometers, it is the longest line in the entire network, serving 18 stations. The Jardím Zoólogico – Restauradores section is one of the first sections from 1959. The Linha Azul has existed as an independent line since 1993. It is shown in blue on the route network map.

history

Part of the first Lisbon metro line

The section between Sete Rios (today Jardim Zoológico ) and Restauradores went on December 29, 1959 as part of the then Y-network, which led from Restauradores to Sete Rios or Entre Campos . The stations were designed with azulejos according to plans by the artist Maria Keil . By 1972 the line was extended via Rossio to the northeast to the Alvalade underground station . In 1988 the route from Sete Rios to Colégio Militar / Luz was extended. The reason for this measure was the development of the densely populated district of Benfica and to create an alternative to the Linha de Sintra .

The creation of an independent line

In 1990 an expansion plan was presented to merge a new connection between the Entre Campos branch, which has now ended at the university, with the Alvalade branch in the new Campo Grande subway station . This new line would have been a ring line with one branch, analogous to the Circle Line in London. For this reason the network was split up. In a blue line from Colégio Militar / Luz to Campo Grande and the yellow line from Campo Grande to Rotunda , where the two lines were linked. On the occasion of Expo 98 , the entire network was restructured in 1997: First the line was extended to Pontinha . Then the blue line was reduced to the Restauradores – Pontinha train route, the east branch was to become a new line, the green Linha Verde . The plan also stipulated that both branches of the line would each end at one of the terminal stations on the banks of the Tagus. The east branch should lead to Cais do Sodré , the west branch to Santa Apolónia with a stop at Terreiro do Paço . A link between the two branches should be guaranteed in the newly created Baixa-Chiado underground station . Construction began in 1997, and the extension of both lines should go into operation in 1998. The Linha Verde has been leading from Campo Grande to Cais do Sodré since April 25, 1998. Since then, the Restauradores – Rossio route has only been used for ferry transfers. On August 8, 1998, the Linha Azul Baixa-Chiado also reached. During the construction of the continuation to Santa Apolónia there was a water ingress and there were difficulties with the complicated subsoil, so that this route could not be put into operation until December 19, 2007.

In the meantime, various train stations were renamed in 1998: Sete Rios was given the name Jardím Zoólogico and Rotunda was now called Marquês de Pombal. In 2004, the new line from Pontinha to Amadora Este was put into operation to connect Portugal's third largest city to Lisbon. Together with the extension of the Linha Amarela to Odivelas , which took place at the same time , the Lisbon metro reached areas outside the city limits for the first time. By extending the Linha Vermelha in 2009, São Sebastião was converted into a transfer hub. On April 14, 2016, the extension to the Reboleira underground station was opened at the Amadorens station of the same name .

connections

Railroad and ferry

Apart from the Reboleira junction with the Linha de Sintra, which was completed in April 2016, the Linha Azul also includes other transfer hubs by rail. From Jardím Zoólogico underground station, there are direct links to Sete Rios station on the Linha de Cintura and Restauradores is linked to Rossio station . The end point Santa Apolónia is below the main train station of the same name on Linha do Norte . Terreiro do Paço is connected to the ferry terminal of the same name at Praça do Comércio.

Subway

The Linha Azul is connected exactly once with every other metro line: with the Linha Vermelha in São Sebastião, with the Linha Amarela in Marquês de Pombal and with the Linha Verde in Baixa-Chiado.

Trivia

  • The Linha Azul is the only line of the network that runs completely underground. The green and yellow lines are above ground in the Campo Grande area, the red one crosses the Linha de Cintura on a viaduct.

future

Expansion plans for the Lisbon Metro by 2020
  • Another project, published on July 30, 2009, stipulated that Reboleira should not remain the terminus, the route should be extended to the Amadora-Sintra hospital in Amadora city ​​center . In addition to the terminus, there are two intermediate stations. The cost would amount to 214 million euros, the completion should take place in 2015. However, due to the financial difficulties in Portugal, the project has been temporarily put on hold. In the long term, the line could also be used by the Linha Vermelha if it were to be extended from Aeroporto to Amadora.
  • An Alfândega station would be built between Santa Apolónia and Terreiro do Paço .
  • Furthermore, the construction of two stations on the existing route between Carnide and Colégio Militar / Luz is planned: Benfica and Uruguai

Individual evidence

  1. Archived copy ( Memento from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  2. Archived copy ( Memento from August 3, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )