Linha do Norte (Portugal)
The Linha do Norte , in English main line of the north , is the most important railway line in Portugal . It connects the two cities of Lisbon and Porto over a length of 336 km. It also connects other important cities such as Santarém , Entroncamento , Coimbra and Aveiro to the rail network. In addition, the two lines Linha da Beira Baixa and Linha da Beira Alta branch off from the Linha do Norte , both of which lead towards the Spanish border and on which international through train traffic to Spain and France operates.
history
In order to connect Portugal to the Spanish railway network, an English company began to build the Linha do Leste, which was then still known as the Linha do Leste, from Lisbon in 1853 . On October 30, 1856, the section from Lisbon Santa Apolónia to Carregado was opened as the first railway line in Portugal. In contrast to Spain, the construction of the line was carried out in standard gauge . Only when it was connected to the Spanish railway network was the line nailed to the Spanish broad gauge. In 1857 the Portuguese state bought the line by buying shares. The Spanish financier Don José de Salamanca, who founded the Companhia Real dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses in 1860, was commissioned with the continuation of the railway construction . So on November 7th, 1862 the line to Santarém was opened. Entroncamento was reached a year later.
The actual Linha do Norte was not built until November 9, 1862, when the line from Gaia to Estarreja on the bank of the Douro opposite Porto was opened. On July 7, 1864, the gap between Estarreja and Entroncamento was finally closed, so that you could travel from Lisbon to almost Porto by train. The missing bridge, the Ponte Maria Pia , was put into operation on November 4, 1877.
In 1958 the first section of the Lisboa – Entroncamento line was electrified. In 1991 the decrepit Ponte Maria Pia was closed and the Ponte de São João was opened.
business
The entire line is at least two-track, in the greater Lisbon area four-track, expanded and electrified throughout. All trains on the route, both passenger and freight, are operated by the Portuguese state railway Comboios de Portugal . Today all train categories run on the route. While suburban trains of the subsidiaries CP Urbanos de Lisboa ( Linha de Azambuja ) and CP Urbanos do Porto ( Linha de Aveiro ) also operate in the two metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto , there are between the larger cities (Entroncamento, Coimbra, Aveiro) Regional train connections. As the highest train category, the Portuguese high-speed train Alfa Pendular runs between the two metropolises Lisbon and Porto, and there are also various intercity connections between Lisbon and various cities, including those that are connected to Linha do Norte by connecting trains.
future
The Portuguese government planned to build a standard-gauge high-speed network between Lisbon and Porto . The trains, which can travel at speeds of up to 320 km / h, should run from 2015 and in the future also across the Portuguese-Spanish border to Madrid .
The course of this route would be largely identical to the Linha do Norte. As a result of Portugal's rigid austerity policy after the financial crisis from 2007 , the plans for construction were shelved in March 2012.
literature
- Baron Victor von Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System , Bd. 8 , Vienna ²1917
- Fritz Stöckl: The railways of the earth, Vol. III. Spain and Portugal , Vienna 1962
