Linha de Cintura

Alcântara-Terra-Braço de Prata
Route length:	11.3 km
Gauge :	1668 mm ( Iberian track )
Legend Doca de Alcântara Linha de Cascais from Cascais 0.0 Concordância de Alcântara Alcântara-Mar Linha de Cascais to Cais do Sodré currentless connecting track 1.0 Alcântara-Terra Tunnel de Alcântara Linha do Sul to Pragal , Tunes Linha de Sintra to Rossio 3.7 Campolide-A wedge station Linha de Sintra to Sintra Linha de Sintra Laranjeras 5.0 Sete Rios Connection to the metro network Rego 6.3 Entrecampos-Poente 6.9 Entrecampos 8.0 Roma Areeiro 9.6 Concordância de Xabregas 9.7 Chelas former wedge station TTT to Barreiro Madre de Deus 10.7 Marvila Santa Apolonia TTT from Barreiro 11.3 Braço de Prata Linha do Norte to Porto-Campanhã

The Linha de Cintura , in German roughly belt railway or ring railway , is a railway line in the Portuguese capital Lisbon . Historically, the route is closely linked to the suburban line Linha de Sintra . The railway line is the most important part of the capital's railway junction, almost all trains use the line or at least touch it, a good 300 trains travel the line per day. It was opened in sections between 1887 and 1891.

history

South-western end point of the Linha de Cintura, the Alcântara-Terra train station

On Roma-Areeiro some of the features of the Linha de Sintra and ending Fertagus trains

The Campolide Station , with its four platforms (two for the Linha do Sul / Linha de Cintura and 2 for the Linha de Sintra) operational focal point of the course

Historically, the Linha de Cintura and the Linha de Sintra are closely linked; the royal railway company opened certain sections of the route in parallel and used the two routes in combination. First the Linha de Sintra was opened in 1887 between the Lisbon suburb and the royal summer residence Sintra to Campolide , at the same time the section between Campolide and Alcântara , today part of the Linha de Cintura. For the first time, the suburb of Lisbon could be reached directly by train, but initially passengers had to take the tram to Alcântara to board the train there.

In 1888 the most important part of the Linha de Cintura followed between Campolide and Chelas and Santa Apolónia . There, the railway met the existing Linha do Norte in the direction of Santarém , Coimbra and Porto . With this, the trains of the Linha de Sintra had more or less received another terminus, they either continued to end in Alcântara or now in Santa Apolónia. However, there was still no real inner-city connection for the Linha de Sintra, and the two train stations Alcântara and Santa Apolónia were and still are away from the center ( Baixa Pombalina ).

In 1891 the belt railway was completed with the opening of the 2.6 kilometer long Rossio tunnel between Campolide and the new (temporary) main station Rossio . In addition, two track connections and the currentless track between the Linha de Cintura and the Linha de Cascais completed the route. Since then, it has been possible to have trains run from any train station in Lisbon in any conceivable direction.

On April 28, 1957, most of the Lisbon suburbs were electrified, including most of the Linha de Cintura. An exception was initially the single-track section between Campolide and Alcântara-Terra, which was only used for occasional freight traffic at that time. This section has only been electrically accessible since 1987, and has been used by passenger traffic again since 1992.

Since a small renaissance of the Portuguese railways in the nineties (liberalization of the rail sector , separation of network and operation, establishment of REFER and IMTT ), the Linha de Cintura is currently expanding. The Linha de Cintura was gradually expanded to four tracks over 3.7 kilometers between Campolide and Roma-Areeiro; this is also planned for the 3.3-kilometer section Roma-Areeiro-Braço de Prata. In addition, the four train stations Campolide, Sete Rios, Entrecampos and Roma-Areeiro were completely renovated. They have all been expanded, given barrier-free access and links to the nearest metro stations.

business

Two trains of the CP Urbanos de Lisboa in Entrecampos station. On the left a train of the Linha da Azambuja line family to Castanheira do Ribatejo, on the right a train of the Linha de Sintra to Sintra

The Linha de Cintura is now an important part of the railway network of the Portuguese capital and in particular the suburban traffic, which makes up more than 80 percent of the traffic on the Linha de Cintura. Two so-called line families of the CP Urbanos de Lisboa use the Linha de Cintura for suburban traffic similar to that of the S-Bahn . First the Linha de Sintra with - on the one hand - the classic train route between Sintra and Rossio, - on the other hand - a train route that begins at the Mira Sintra-Meleças station of the Linha do Oeste and over the Linha de Sintra and the Linha de Cintura leads to Roma-Areeiro train station; in rush hour to Oriente or Alverca .

The second lineage family that uses the Linha de Cintura, among others, is that of the Linha da Azambuja , part of the Linha do Norte. Here, too, there is the classic train route between Azambuja and the Santa Apolónia terminus, on the other hand a train route that begins in Castanheira do Ribatejo and leads over the Linha de Cintura to the Alcântara-Terra train station.

In addition to these two line families of the state CP Urbanos de Lisboa , the trains of the private railway company Fertagus also use the important railway line. Their suburban trains start at Roma-Areeiro station and travel via Ponte 25 de Abril to Coina or Setúbal .

In addition to suburban traffic, there are also individual long-distance connections that use the Linha de Cintura. Among other things, several Intercidades - and an Alfa Pendular pair towards the Alentejo and Algarve respectively . In addition, all trains in the direction of northern Portugal touch the Linha de Cintura at Braço de Prata station. There are also a few regional trains and interregional trains between Santa Apolónia and Caldas da Rainha or Figueira da Foz . These trains run over the Linha do Oeste and the Linha de Sintra before using the Cintura between Sete Rios and Chelas and then branching off onto the connecting curve Chelas-Santa Apolónia.

course

Trunk line

The route begins on the banks of the Tejo at the Alcântara docks and then ends in a hairpin bend behind the Doca de Santo Amaro. Then the Linha de Cascais is crossed immediately before Alcântara-Mar and the route runs parallel to Rua Cascais and Rua João de Oliveira Miguéns, before reaching Alcântara-Terra train station. The line is between the docks and Alcântara-Terra, it runs over five level crossings, is not electrified, and the traffic is handled by a diesel locomotive. After Alcântara-Terra, the route leads through the Alcântara tunnel and then merges into the Linha do Sul at the junction of the same name. A little later, this will take you to Campolide, the intersection with today's Linha de Sintra. The line then curves to the right as part of a track triangle to Sete Rios station . The inner city of Lisbon is circled slightly higher in order to avoid level crossings. Via the Entrecampos and Roma-Areeiro stations , the Chelas station is reached, where the branch to Santa Apolónia branches off. Via Marvila, the line reaches the Braço de Prata junction, where it joins the Linha do Norte to the north.

Connecting curve Chelas – Santa Apolónia

The single-lane connecting curve branches off immediately in front of the Chelas train station. The platform in Chelas is dismantled. The route leads south in a long right curve. The crossing of the Calçada da Picheleira is, besides the crossings of the Alcântara connecting track, the only level crossing of the Linha de Cintura. The short Madre de Deus tunnel crosses the quarter of the same name, which is located on a hill at its foot. Immediately after the tunnel exit, at the height of the Museu Nacional do Azulejo , the route joins the Linha do Norte.

literature

• Christoph Groneck: Metros in Portugal - local rail transport in and around Lisbon and Porto , Robert-Schwandl-Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-936573-20-6 ; Pages 70-77
• Comboios de Portugal (CP) (Ed.): Os caminhos-de-ferro portugueses 1856-2006. [The Portuguese Railways 1856-2006], ISBN 989-619-078-X

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Infraestruturas de Portugal invest 3.9 ME in obras na Linha de Cintura. In: Diário de Notícias. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018 (Portuguese). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Diréctorio da speech 2009 of the speech Ferroviária Nacional , April 3, 2008; Pages 63, 119
3. ↑ Trânsito condicionado junto à estação Roma-Areeiro a partir de hoje  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.   , [Limited traffic from today at Roma-Areeiro train station], Público , May 9, 2002
4. ↑ Information from the Comboios de Portugal on the "Linha de Sintra"
5. ↑ Information from the Comboios de Portugal on the "Linha da Azambuja"

Web links

Commons : Linha de Cintura  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• More pictures of the Linha de Cintura train stations
• REFER environmental study on the four-track expansion between Chelas and Braço de Prata (PDF file; Portuguese) (437 kB)