The Lisbon Metro () is a rapid transit system in Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first rapid transit system in Portugal. , the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations.
History Initial plans The idea of building a system of underground railways for the city of Lisbon first arose in 1888. It was first proposed by Henrique de Lima e Cunha, a military engineer who had published a proposal in the journal Obras Públicas e Minas (Public Works and Mines) for a network with several lines that could serve the Portuguese capital. Concrete plans took longer to evolve, though. Lanoel Aussenac d'Abel and Abel Coelho presented theirs in 1923, and José Manteca Roger and Juan Luque Argenti theirs one year later, in 1924. None of these plans were carried out.
After World War II, in which Portugal remained neutral, the national economy took off and the financial possibilities arising from the Marshall Plan provided a strong boost to the potential construction of a metro in Lisbon. A society was formed on 26 January 1948 with the purpose of studying the technical and economic feasibility of the project.
1955–1979: Beginning of operations
Construction began on 7 August 1955, and four years later, on 29 December 1959, the Lisbon Metro was inaugurated. The network was formed by a Y-shaped line linking Restauradores to Rotunda (now Marquês de Pombal), branching then to Entre Campos and to Sete Rios (now Jardim Zoológico), where the rolling stock depot (PMO I) which was also linked to the outer-loop Cintura Line of CP was located. Two services were operated on the system: one between Restauradores and Sete Rios (which later became part of the Blue Line), and one between Restauradores and Entre Campos (which later became part of the Yellow Line).
The new system was well received by the public, and in the first year the Metro carried more than 15.3 million passengers. The metro has proved an important factor in urban development of the city, outlining new areas of housing and services. On 27 January 1963, the first phase of the central portion of the network (later the Green Line) opened with an extension from Restauradores to Rossio; the second phase (from Rossio to Anjos) opened on 28 September 1966 and the third phase (from Anjos to Alvalade) opened on 18 June 1972.
After this first extension, no further extensions began construction until the early 1980s. In 1974, after the Carnation Revolution, the management model was changed, being nationalized in 1975 and renamed Metropolitano de Lisboa, EP in 1978. Under the new management, works were carried to enlarge platforms, originally designed to receive two cars, so that these could receive four cars.
1980–1989: Initial expansion
In the 1980s, additional extensions to the metro network began to be studied. An extension from Alvalade to Calvanas was planned to begin construction in 1980 and the extension from Sete Rios to Colégio Militar (later Colégio Militar/Luz) was expected to begin construction in 1982.
In 1984, works began to extend the eastern branch of the initial line from Entre Campos to Campo Grande (then called Cruz Norte). At the same time, construction of the extension from Alvalade to Campo Grande began; plans to build a station at Calvanas, near the Júlio de Matos hospital, had already been abandoned at the time.
By the end of the decade, on 14 October 1988, the extension connecting Sete Rios to Colégio Militar/Luz was inaugurated, opening three stations: Laranjeiras, with artwork by Sá Nogueira, Alto dos Moinhos (artwork by Júlio Pomar), and Colégio Militar/Luz (artwork by Manuel Cargaleiro). Cidade Universitária (connected to the main campus of the University of Lisbon, with artwork by Maria Helena Vieira da Silva) opened at the same time, as part of the extension from Entre Campos to Campo Grande. These four stations were the first to be built from scratch with platforms long enough to receive six cars () and with artwork in the platforms themselves.
1990–1999: Rapid expansion to accommodate Expo '98
In 1990, the Network Expansion Plan was presented, which included extensions from Rossio to Cais do Sodré and from Restauradores to Baixa-Chiado, splitting the Y in Rotunda (extending the branch from Picoas to a new station, Rato) and the extension Colégio Militar/Luz–Pontinha (including a new depot near the Pontinha station, PMO III).
In 1991, the first prototype of the ML90 car series was presented, consisting of two triple units (motor-trailer-motor) of six cars (with the first unit being numbered M-201, R-202 and M-203), built by Sorefame/Bombardier. These cars had a digital destination sign, were generally more comfortable and could operate with or without the trailer. The motor cars in these two triple units were also the only ones to have a front door to the cab, which was not included in further batches.
On 3 April 1993, the elevated Campo Grande station opened, along with the expansions Alvalade–Campo Grande and Cidade Universitária–Campo Grande. With this extensions, the network grew . In the same month, the ML90 prototype cars were used for the first time.
In 1993, the second Network Expansion Plan was presented, intended to serve Expo '98. It recommended that the Metro should operate the following routes by 1999:
would run from the northwest end of the city at Pontinha to the east end of Baixa (Terreiro do Paço); would run from the Lumiar to Campolide; would run from Telheiras to the seaport at Cais do Sodré; would run from Alameda to the exposition site at Moscavide in the northeastern end of the city.
The PMO II depot at Campo Grande was finished in the autumn of 1994 after eleven years of works. At the end of this year, the second batch of ML90 was ordered, consisting of 17 triple units (or 51 cars). On 15 July 1995, the two services were finally realigned into Line A (blue) between Colégio Militar/Luz and Campo Grande via Rossio, and Line B (yellow) between Campo Grande and Rotunda. The old Rotunda station (now Rotunda I) was extended from 75 to 105 metres and totally refurbished, while the new station (Rotunda II) already had a platform with 105 metres.
By the end of 1996, the second batch of ML 90 (numbered M-207 to M-257) was ready; colors and materials used in this second batch differed somewhat from that made up the first. The rolling stock was now composed of 191 coaches: 80 of them ML7, 54 ML90 and 57 ML79. On 18 October 1997, the Blue Line expansion from Colégio Militar/Luz to Pontinha opened, expanding the network by . In December of the same year, Rato opened, from Rotunda II. Orders for new rolling stock continued in 1997, when half of the cars now known as ML95 were delivered (19 electric triple units, motor-trail-motor, or 57 cars). These new coaches, which look similar to ML90, have some technical differences, like a different engine and electrical door control (unlike the pneumatic control used on its predecessors). The new logo of the Lisbon Metro was first inserted into these new coaches.
1998 was a year when most of the said expansion projects were completed; as early as March the names of four stations had changed:
Sete Rios → Jardim Zoológico Palhavã → Praça de Espanha Rotunda I and II → Marquês de Pombal I and II Socorro → Martim Moniz
In March 1998, the section between Rossio and Campo Grande became part of the Green Line, which removed the connection between Restauradores and Rossio stations from regular service. On 18 April, the section Rossio - Cais do Sodré () was opened, with two stations: Baixa-Chiado and Cais do Sodré, the latter connecting to the train and boat stations.
The Red Line (Line D at the time) would be inaugurated on 19 May 1998, three days before the opening of Expo '98. This line was long and included five new stations: Alameda II, Olaias, Bela Vista, Chelas, and Oriente; the line began running six car trains beginning in June of that year on an experimental basis in order to satisfy the demand of passengers visiting Lisbon during Expo '98. By this time, the entire ML95 series had been delivered, numbered M-301 to M-414.
Later in 1998, Cabo Ruivo (on 18 July) and Olivais (on 8 August) opened as infill stations on the Red Line, between Chelas and Oriente. The rolling stock was then composed of 305 cars – 80 ML7, 54 ML79, 57 ML90 and 114 ML95, and the network comprised 40 stations.
In 1999, the PMO III depot opened near the Pontinha station, replacing the old PMO I depot at Sete Rios, in an event where the prototype of the future car series (now known as ML97) was presented, which would consist of 18 articulated triple units (54 cars). The main difference from the previous series was the possibility of free movement between each car. In addition, the prototype had a more modern image, and also introduced digital automatic passenger information. According to the operator, the trailer of these triple units can be removed, although this has never been witnessed. The first cars were issued during 1999, numbered M-501 to M-554. The rolling stock, at the turn of the millennium, was made of 361 cars of five train types (80 ML7, 54 ML79, 57 ML90, 114 ML95, 54 ML97), the largest number of train cars to date before the retirement of the ML7 and ML79 series in 2000 and 2002, respectively.
2001–2016: Continued expansion
On 2 November 2002, under Manuel Frasquilho's tenure as president, the Green Line's extension from Campo Grande to Telheiras opened. In 2004, the network opened its first extensions outside the geographical limits of the city: first, in March, with the expansion of the Yellow Line from Campo Grande to Odivelas (which included five new stations, two of which are aboveground); then, in May, the Blue Line was extended from Pontinha to Amadora Este. Later that year, construction of the Red Line segment between Alameda and São Sebastião began.
On 19 December 2007, after 11 years of construction, the final -long section of the Blue Line between Baixa-Chiado and Santa Apolónia opened, with some controversy and many successive delays due to the difficulty of construction. The segment was originally slated to open in 2001, but in 2000, cracks were discovered in the original tunnel that led to land subsidence. The consequent flooding of the tunnel seriously slowed down the completion of work and road traffic at the Praça do Comércio and part of the Avenida Infante D. Henrique was forced to be closed temporarily while the new tunnel was constructed in its place. The stations themselves (Terreiro do Paço and Santa Apolónia) were completed in the summer of 2007.
On 29 August 2009, the Red Line section between Alameda II and São Sebastião II was inaugurated, such that all lines now cross each other.
On 17 July 2012, the Red Line was extended between Oriente and Aeroporto, adding to the network. Three new stations have been inaugurated: Moscavide, Encarnação and Aeroporto, which is directly linked to the Lisbon Portela Airport. A journey from the central Saldanha station to the Lisbon Airport now only lasts about 16 minutes. The Red Line also serves the Moscavide neighbourhood, and was expected to carry 400,000 extra passengers each year.
The Blue Line segment between Amadora Este and Reboleira on the Blue Line opened on 17 April 2016, twelve years after the initial portion of the segment between Pontinha and Amadora Este was completed.
2017–present