Linha do Norte

The Linha do Norte to German main line of the North, is the most important railway line in Portugal. It connects the cities of Lisbon and Porto on a length of 336 km. They also binds other important cities such as Santarém Entroncamento, Coimbra and Aveiro to the rail network. In addition, branches of the Linha do Norte from the two routes Linha da Beira Baixa and Linha da Beira Alta, both of which lead towards the Spanish border and on which the international transit trains to Spain and France wrong.

History

To connect Portugal to the Spanish railway network, an English company began to build the then so called Linha do Leste in 1853 from Lisbon. On October 30, 1856 section of Lisbon Santa Apolonia after Carregado was opened as the first railway line in Portugal. In contrast to Spain, the construction of the track but was executed in standard gauge. Only with the connection to the Spanish railway network, the route was changed nailed to the Spanish broad gauge. 1857 was acquired by the Portuguese government, the route through the purchase of shares. With the continuation of railway construction, the Spanish financier Don José de Salamanca was commissioned in 1860 to the Companhia Real dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses founded. It could be opened up to Santarém on November 7, 1862, the route. A year later Entroncamento was reached.

For building the actual Linha do Norte only came on 9 November 1862, when the route was opened by Gaia at the hotel opposite the banks of the Douro to Porto Estarreja. On July 7, 1864 Finally, the gap between Estarreja and Entroncamento was closed, so that one could travel from Lisbon to almost to Porto by train. The missing bridge, the Ponte Maria Pia, was put into operation on 4 November 1877.

In 1958, the first section of the route Lisboa- Entroncamento was electrified.

Operation

The entire route is at least two tracks, four tracks in the Greater Lisbon area, and electrified throughout. All trains on the line, both the passenger and freight transport are operated by the Portuguese state railway Comboios de Portugal. Today, all train types operating on the route. While in the two metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto and S -Bahn Similar operate suburban trains of the subsidiaries CP Urbano de Lisboa ( Linha de Azambuja ) and CP Urbanos' do Porto ( Linha de Aveiro), there are between each of the larger cities ( Entroncamento, Coimbra, Aveiro) Regional trains. When the highest category of train runs the Portuguese high-speed Alfa pendular between the two cities of Lisbon and Porto, also operate several intercity services between Lisbon and several cities, including those that are connected by connecting tracks to the Linha do Norte.

Future

The Portuguese government planned the construction of a standard gauge high speed network between Lisbon and Porto. The up to 320 km / h running trains should run from 2015 and in the future then also on the Portuguese- Spanish border to Madrid. This route would be largely identical to the Linha do Norte. The plans for the building were shelved in March 2012.

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