International Railroad Discussion > Lisbon to Faro

I rode a CP (Portuguese Railways) Intercity train from Lisbon to Faro in the far southern Algarve region on Saturday.  Scheduled time was 3.5 hours, but the train left Lisbon a half hour late and lost another fifteen minutes en route due to long station stops on a busy weekend.  An advance booking first class ticket was 30 Euro (roughly USD 33), which basically buys you more roomy 2-1 reserved seating.  This compares quite favorably to Amtrak fares for runs of similar duration and distance, such as Providence - New York or Portland - Seattle.  The electrified route is a mix of double and single track, with a curvy section that is reminiscent of Miramar hill on the Surfliner route.  There are about about a half dozen daily round trips, with at least one using a Talgo Pendular train set that cuts a half hour off the schedule.

Just a few pics -

1) Arrival in Faro

2) First class carriage interior

3) Approching the Ponte 25 de Abril suspension bridge over the Tagus River leaving Lisbon.   Trains cross on the lower deck.

Dave

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Thanks for posting the pictures and information.  Gerry

As I told my students, "I need to stop saying never." For the first few years, I said railways never use suspension bridges because they aren't stable enough. It turns out several do, though they carry transit systems such as light rail or as here, European trains that are lighter than North American. As I recall on this bridge in Portugal, even though it's double track, only one train is allowed on it at a time. And there's a speed restriction.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/24/24 07:55 by mile250.

I was in Lisbon a month ago and our ship was passing under this bridge while I was on deck
and a train passed overhead.  I thought the bridge was about to crash down upon us as the
roar of steel wheels on steel rail on steel decking was deafening.