Carris

The Companhia de Carris de Ferro de Lisboa, but usually referred to simply as Carris, is a national transport company that operates the majority of bus routes, trams and a lift in the Portuguese capital Lisbon. Founded in 1872, has been responsible for the public, above-ground public transport in Lisbon. Also drives the Carris also special tourist lines and the Lisbon Tram Museum.

Operation

The Carris operates a large inner-city transport network in Lisbon. This is composed of:

• 80 bus lines with a line length of 680 kilometers
• The five lines of the Lisbon tram network with a length of 48 kilometers
• The three funiculars
• The elevator Santa Justa

In 2011, Carris transported 232.7 million passengers, of which 214.3 on the bus lines and 18.4 million for trams, lifts and funiculars. These are, in comparison to 2010, 7.9 million passengers less (-3.3 percent).

In spring 2012, Carris merged with the Lisbon Metro, both companies remain formally exist, under joint management.

History

The Companhia de Carris de Ferro de Lisboa was founded on 18 September 1872 and immediately received the following year, to operate on the initiative of the brothers Luciano Cordeiro de Sousa and Francisco Cordeiro de Sousa, the concession horse tracks in the Portuguese capital. On November 17, 1873 Carris opened the first horse-drawn tram line in Portugal usually just called Americanos, between the Santa Apolonia train station and Santos in the southwest of Lisbon.

The Americanos had great success in Lisbon, but they allowed a significant faster and more orderly, aboveground traffic. Nevertheless, the Board of Carris considered it back then as necessary in the future to put a more efficient system. Therefore, the Carris did try different transport systems, including a kind of steam tram from Cais do Sodré and Algés.

On 31 August 1901, the Carris opened the first electric tram in Lisbon between the Cais do Sodré and Ribamar in Algés, the northern Portuguese city of Porto already six years earlier, in 1895, the first electric tram line was opened. The new tram system had great success so already to 1905 the Carris let electrify the entire horse-drawn tram system. The climax experienced the Lisbon tram in the forties, it was almost the only means of transport in the Portuguese capital and the Carris is the most successful transportation companies.

At the 1958 World Fair in Lisbon, the Carris buses sat for the first time, initially reluctant, three lines sailed short, inner-city routes. But increasingly, the bus dropped by, so, encouraged by the Lisa Bonn city council, the tram to and had to give up after stretching, the functions now fulfilled the buses. The tram shrank as from an original city-wide network to a few tracks together, main line remained the connection from Cais do Sodré about Belém to Algés where there is still the main depot of the Carris. A further shrinkage experienced the tram through the massive expansion of the metro.

Until 1974, the Carris still belonged majority of the British parent company Lisbon Electric Tramways. On January 1, 1974, the property passed into the possession of the city of Lisbon.

Beginning of the nineties began the first time a rethinking, the Carris procured for the first time new vehicles for the tram, as they now realized that the tram as a major attraction should be received at least for the tourists continue. The Linha now famous 28 was obtained as a route through the historic center of Lisbon. You practically connects all the tourist attractions of Lisbon each other.

2003 Carris decided to revise the line network, and a modernization of the image. Accompanied by the construction of the indicator stops ( Sistema de Informação ao Passageiro SIP) continued the Carris within the concept of speech 7 in several phases, a redesign of the bus and tram network. With the concept of speech 7 bus routes received first line colors.