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On January 12, 2024, Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa launched the public tender for the first section of the first phase of the Lisbon to Porto highspeed railway line, between Porto and Oiã. The project includes the reformulation of the Porto-Campanhã railway station, the construction...

I'm currently working on another railway project, and the engineers have been discussing whether or not it's worth keeping windows on train bathrooms. Not only do we have stock in line for modernization that may or may not have the bathroom windows removed/reinstated, but we are also in the...

As some of you may already know, Portugal launched their version of the Deutschland-Ticket this month. For 49€ this pass allows unlimited travel on Regional services in all the country, including the connection to Badajoz (ES). Despite its name, there are severe limitations that discourage...

The 2023 season of the Douro Historic Train will only begin on July 8, one month later than usual. The departure from Régua has been postponed due to the month-long strike by ticket inspectors. To compensate, CP - Comboios de Portugal plans to offer an extended service for 2023, operating the...

The Douro Line will be closed between November 2024 and March 2025 for engineering work. The closure will be between the Marco de Canaveses and Ermida railway stations. The reason is the engineering work necessary to lower the floor of the tunnels to allow for the electrification of the railway...

It's been a while since the term BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) was introduced in Portugal. [Wait, now Grammarly forces me to use Passive Voice in this sentence!?) So far, two old railway projects (or old railway infrastructure, as it once existed) have been converted to BRT systems. One in Coimbra...

APAC - Associação Portuguesa dos Amigos dos Caminhos de Ferro, one of the existing Portuguese railway enthusiast clubs, has just announced a five-day tour around the Iberian Peninsula, departing on June 8. The tour, starting and ending simultaneously in Porto and Lisbon, will stop at...

Yesterday, the Portuguese National Railway Plan board presented the final draft, that'll be voted on in Parliament. This plan defines the railway network for the next 30 years and should be independent of any political or EU funding cycles. While the plan has been made for Portuguese...

CP was ordered in court to pay €1.6M in damages to a woman who suffered a fall during the depart of the Sud Express, back in 2009, which resulted in her left leg being amputated. This was the highest-ever recorded penalty awarded for a single individual in Portugal. The ticket inspector was also...

The EU Commission wants to pass a regulation forcing Portugal and Spain to convert their railway network to standard gauge amidst pressures on the European infrastructure from the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. According to Transportes e Negócios, the EU Commission wants Portugal and...

Hello everyone! I am going to Berlin for this year's Innotrans, and I became a bit desperate trying to find a way to, and from, Berlin with luggage. Right now, the plan is finalised. In the early morning of September 18, I'll be flying on TAP Air Portugal from Porto to Paris - Orly. I'll be...

Hello everyone! Much has happened over the past two years, and, as a result, tomorrow will be an historical day for the Railway Enthusiast panorama in Portugal! A train composed of a Néz-Cassé Class 2600 locomotive and 9 Schindler coaches built in the late 1940's will do a trip around the...

Good morning everyone! Does anyone know to which extent can a 600V DC tram operate on a 750V DC system, and vice-versa? My vague understanding from hearsay is that, due to being DC, a unmodified higher voltage train on a lower voltage track will be under powered, but will still work. No word...

Hello! I'll be travelling to Switzerland in March, on a holiday trip that I want to use a a rail discovery adventure. Regarding railway museums and heritage rail, does Switzerland have much of a culture around them? I checked the SBB Historic website to check for a museum exhibit, but they...

Good evening! I'm on the process of working on the signage of the "new" Arco coaches by CP and, since we have translation of text to Portuguese, Spanish and English, one of my goals is to use as many precedents as possible. This is not the first time I come forward to this forum looking for...

CP - Comboios de Portugal, launched a public tender to acquire 117 new EMU's for commuter and regional services. The ceremony was held at the Guifões Maintenance Unit in December 14, 2021. The tender is valued at €819M (£696M), with the first train expected to be delivered in 2026, and the last...

This is a part of an article about cross connections between Portugal and Spain, exposing how new European safety regulations have severely increased cross-border costs, putting at risk the last connection between Lisbon and Madrid that can be realistically done within a single day: Translated...

Hello everyone! I decided to go ahead and try travelling for the first time on high speed rail. I booked a trip between Barcelona and Madrid, on the Renfe AVE, on October 18. The ticket was acquired for 16€, at a time and price neither Ouigo nor Avlo could beat (somehow). The plan is to fly...

Good morning everyone! Anyone has a picture or a PDF of one of those vehicle emergency plans with evacuation routes and emergency equipment positioning that are placed inside of trains? I need one or two examples to show the state of the art of these type of emergency plans to CP - Comboios de...

Good morning everyone! Just a simple question: Has anyone ever noticed a train departing ahead of schedule, or has had the misfortune of being left behind because a train departed before it was due? Just today my morning train to Ermesinde tried to depart three minutes ahead of schedule, only...