Linha do Algarve

Lagos – Vila Real de Santo António
Route length:	139.5 km
Gauge :	1668 mm ( Iberian track )
Power system :	Tunes – Faro: 25 kV 50 Hz  ~
Legend 0.0 Lagos 2.7 Meia Praia 5.9 Odiáxere 8.1 Mexilhoeira Grande 9.4 Figueira 13.7 Alvor 17.0 Portimão Rio Arade 19.0 Ferragudo - Parchal 22.1 Estômbar - Lagoa 28.1 Silves 33.2 Poço Barreto 36.9 Alcantarilha -Praia de Armação de Pêra 41.0 Algoz 42.8 Alvalede Linha do Sul from Lisbon 45.4 Do it 50.6 Albufeira 55.5 Patã 59.1 Boliqueime 62.0 Benfarras 63.9 Vale de Judeu 67.7 Loulé -Praia de Quarteira 69.2 Vale de Éguas 71.1 Vale Formoso 74.7 Almancil -Nexe 75.4 Parque das Cidades 75.9 São João da Venda 80.0 Patacão 81.5 Marchil 83.5 Faro 84.2 Portas do Mar 84.6 Sao Francisco 85.7 Bom João 87.2 Rio Seco 93.5 Olhão 97.1 Marim 99.3 Bias 102.1 Fuseta A 103.0 Fuseta - Moncarapacho 105.9 Livramento 109.2 Luz Rio Gilão 114.6 Tavira 116.3 Porta Nova 120.4 Conceição 123.6 Santa Rita 125.1 Nora 127.6 Cacela 130.8 Aroeira 133.4 Castro Marim 136.9 Monte Gordo 139.5 Vila Real de Santo Antonio 141.0 VR Sto. Antonio-Guadiana Ferry across the Guadiana Ayamonte (Spain) Route to Huelva

The Linha do Algarve , German: main line of the Algarve , is a Portuguese railway line that connects Lagos with Vila Real de Santo António .

history

The broad-gauge railway line was opened piece by piece between 1889 and 1922.

There used to be a train ferry to Ayamonte ( Spain ) and from there a train line to Huelva . This route, like the ferry connection, has long been discontinued and dismantled. On the Spanish side of the Guadiana River, there are almost no traces of the railway left. A renewed connection of the railways is on the wish list of the Andalusia region . However, it is not included in the Spanish government's transport route plan.

Expansion, renovation, electrification

Between 2007 and 2014, the responsible infrastructure operator Refer renovated and modernized the route for a total of 39 million euros. The renovation included, among other things, raising the platforms, building underpasses, renovating the station buildings and equipping the Faro – Vila Real de Santo António route with an electronic signal box. The Tunes − Faro section has been electrified since 2004.

The Refer planned to modernize the entire route from 2014 to 2019, the costs should amount to 120 million euros. This includes, above all, the electrification of the Lagos − Tunes and Faro − Vila Real de Santo António routes, as well as the integration into an electronic signal box, and slight corrections to the route are planned. The electronic signal box between Olhão and Vila Real do Santo António was inaugurated at the beginning of November 2014. In the course of this, REFER withdrew the entire station staff from the section of the route. The construction work, especially in the western part of the line, was delayed in some cases for years, and it is now assumed that the modernization and complete electrification of the line will be completed by 2020.

Furthermore, on the instructions of the Ministry of Transport, Refer is planning to build a branch line to connect Faro Airport to the Portuguese rail network for the first time. However, there is no time frame for this implementation.

business

The line between the Tunes and Faro railway junction is electrified with 25 kV and 50 Hz alternating current. Local trains run on the entire route between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António. Intercidades and the high-quality Alfa Pendular train also operate on the electrified Faro – Tunes – Lisbon section .

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  Terminal station and depot: Vila Real de Santo António

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  Intercidades in Faro

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  Railway bridge at Portimão over the Rio Arad

Individual evidence

1. ^ Carlos Cipriano: Linha do Algarve mais perto da modernidade. Público, February 23, 2014, accessed February 24, 2014 (Portuguese). 
2. ^ Carlos Cipriano: Acabou-se o chefe de estação na linha do Algarve. In: Público. November 4, 2014, accessed March 10, 2015 (Portuguese). 
3. ↑ Agência Lusa: Infraestruturas de Portugal projeta concluir eletrificação da Linha do Algarve até final de 2020. Retrieved on April 27, 2018 (European Portuguese). 
4. ↑ Lusa: Linha ferroviária do Algarve vai ser modernizada com investimento de 120 milhões. In: ionline.pt. August 2, 2014, accessed August 4, 2014 (Portuguese). 

Web links

Commons : Linha do Algarve  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Linha do Algarve picture gallery
• Timetable 2010 (PDF file; 173 kB)