To Lisboa and Back

Friday 1 May 1998

The 1998 foreign foray to Portugal started at Basingstoke station on May Day morning, where eight of the party met to catch the local train to Reading. At Bramley, four more enlarged the group. The guard on that service commented that it was a pity only a two car set had been laid on - most of the week, it had been three.

From Reading, we continued to Gatwick Airport aboard a curiously dawdling train. At Gatwick, we checked in, and discovered that the departure time of our flight had been put back by twenty minutes. The AB Airlines flight was packed, and the BAC One-Eleven left only a few minutes behind the revised time. After an interesting ascent, it seemed like it was downhill all the way to Lisboa.

Lisboa airport, in common with a number of other parts of Lisboa, was struggling to carry on its normal business at the same time as being a building site - thanks to final preparations for the forthcoming Expo 98 trade fair. The Airport Shuttle bus no. 91 was disappointingly small, which meant that our party actually got away from the airport on the third bus they saw. The friendly and helpful driver on this service more than made up for the fact that the delay had cost us the chance of a planned afternoon ride on the trains.

Plan A had been to cross the River Tejo on a ferry and sample the Portuguese railways (CP) on a three train trip from Barreiro via Vendas Novas and Setil back to Lisboa Santa Apolónia. After checking in at the Hotel (in the writer's case to find a room which looked like a bomb had hit it) we put plan B into effect. This involved wandering off in the direction of Lisboa Cais do Sodré to buy our Bilhetes Turisticos and have a ride on the Estoril line. Plan B proved fatally flawed. The clerk at Cais do Sodré could not sell us the tickets, and we had to go to Santa Apolónia for them. So, Plan C, then: we arrived at Cais do Sodré the second time at 1709. The member of the party first through the entrance noted a train leaving at 1710, and as we had been rather starved of rail travel for the previous 6 hours, he got on it. The rest followed, with the back markers joining a train which may or may not have been moving, but which certainly had all the doors closed apart from the one held open by the other society members.

The line to Cascais follows the north Bank of the Tejo very closely - rarely being more than 100 metres from the shore. Although the interior of the SOREFAME-built train was finished in a fairly basic manner, the generous Portuguese loading gauge made it seem quite spacious and comfortable. The service we were on passed non-stop through several of the stations at the Lisboa end, and even when it did stop, it wasn't standing for long. On this journey there seemed to be a fairly consistent pattern of closing the doors after the train had started to move...

Cascais is a pleasant town with many of its amenities along the coast. The harbour was filled with small colourful boats and on the quayside between the souvenir stalls were stacks of lobster pots. After a few moments surveying the scene, we wandered off into the town in search of liquid refreshment. In common with all the towns we visited on this trip, the streets of Cascais are paved with black and white cobblestones, arranged in attractive patterns. Having rested for a while at a pavement cafe, our thoughts turned to finding somewhere to eat our main meal of the day, and we soon found a very pleasant fish restaurant. We dined well on such exotica as squid and swordfish for a surprisingly modest sum.

Our return journey from Cascais began at 2034 as the light was fading. The sunset colours were particularly clear as we travelled eastwards along the Tejo estuary. Plan C was intended to continue with us leaving the train at Alcântara Mar, walking to Alcântara Terra and catching a train thence to Campolide and on to Lisboa Rossio in order to meet the thirteenth member of our party by 2200. We followed plan C until Alcântara Terra - being pleased to find that CP had thoughtfully provided moving walkways to link the Alcântara stations. However, the signs at Alcântara Terra were not encouraging: two trains were in the station, but one consisted of freight vans and the other was a piggyback/container train. Eventually a member of staff was located and consulted. He confirmed our suspicions that there were no passenger trains. We learned that a bus would take us on to Campolide, but that we should be able to continue to Rossio by train. Thus was plan D born.

Plan D worked. The promised bus arrived, and took us to a brightly-lit aqueduct. A trek up a hill, down an unlit subway and along an unlit alleyway brought us to a dimly-lit building site which turned out to be Campolide station. An electric train soon arrived, but we guessed that it was bound for Sintra, and didn't join it. After a few moments, the train we wanted arrived, and left for Rossio with us aboard. We arrived at Rossio at 2154, and were able to greet our friend, who may well have initially believed that everything had gone like clockwork. (We explained the facts later.)

So, the end of a long day. Time for bed for some, and for finding somewhere to have a reflective night-cap near the Tejo for others.

Saturday 2 May 1998

For those society members with enough energy, there was an early start from Lisboa Rossio on the Saturday morning. Plan E, if that's how far we've got, was to go from Rossio to Cacém, on to Torres Vedras, back to Cacém, and on to Lisboa Santa Apolónia. In the event, this itinerary was followed as far as the return to Cacém, through some very attractive countryside once beyond the limits of Lisboa. At Cacém, it was discovered that the trains didn't serve Santa Apolónia at weekends, so plan F was called into action, with a return journey to Rossio.

Those who hadn't taken the tour to Torres Vedras were meanwhile enjoying their leisurely morning in Lisboa. Towards the end of the morning, they went to the Praça do Comércio to wait among the sculptures (some of which might qualify for an '18' certificate) for the other folks and watch the trams going by. Once the entire group had reassembled - slightly later than planned because of the problems at Cacém - we all set off walking to catch the ferry across the Tejo to Barreiro.

The new plan G (new, because the previous day's trip to Estoril had originally been on Saturday's itinerary) envisaged us going from Barreiro to Setúbal and back on the train, and then returning to ride on the trams later in the day. A minor hitch occurred at the ferry terminal when we discovered that our Bilhetes Turisticos were not valid on the ferry, and so we had to pay 340 Esc for the return crossing.

The ferry's upper deck offered us splendid views, and fans of water craft enjoyed the many other vessels sharing the busy waterway with us. Arrival at Barreiro did not give much of a margin before the train departed for Setúbal, and soon we were southbound. The route from Barreiro to Setúbal is not by any means in the high-speed category, due mainly to the short distance between station stops - six in the first 15 kilometres to Pinhal Novo. As with the morning's excursion, the agricultural nature of the countryside was plain to see as we passed through it. The mixed citrus groves looked particularly inviting in the midday sunshine.

On arrival at Setúbal, there wasn't enough time to go any distance from the station, but it was interesting watching our locomotive shunt the stock we had come in on, and then run round in preparation for the return journey. The train had rather more passengers on the return leg than the outward one, due mainly, it seemed, to football fans travelling to watch a match at Benfica.

The train reached Barreiro at a similar leisurely pace to the outward run. At Barreiro, some members of the party took the chance to photograph the locomotives at Barreiro depot from across the line, whilst the others had a slow walk back to the ferry.

Barreiro ferry terminal adjoins a bus station as well as the railway, so we found ourselves in the company of even more football fans for the return crossing. Their good-natured singing was quite entertaining - same tunes as British fans, but different words. As the ferry approached the Lisboa side, their volume increased, so that those on land would have known they were coming. They, like we, headed for the Praça do Comércio, but whilst they were content to stay there and sing, we carried on to the Praça de Figueira and beyond in search of a number 28 tram. We were indeed fortunate to find one of these with nobody yet aboard it, so we got on.

Lisboa is a very hilly city, and many of its older streets are rather narrow. Neither of these facts deterred the engineers who laid the tram tracks. In consequence, a ride on the number 28 is quite an experience. Indeed, the only thing on the debit side was that Portuguese motorists seem just as inconsiderate as their British counterparts when it comes to deferring to public transport. Several times during the ride the tram driver found himself halted behind poorly parked cars and had to wait for the errant drivers to respond to his bell and move out of the way. It is very fortunate that the trams on this service (the "electricos" dating from the 1930's) have a short wheel-base, because they wouldn't get round the sharp bends otherwise - indeed, some are so tight that they almost qualify as corners.

We were just getting accustomed to this ride when the tram turned off its route onto a loop of track near the Jardim de Estrela and the driver shouted, "Terminado!" By this time, the Basingstoke tourists had been joined by a similar number of fellow passengers, and none of us moved! "Terminado!" repeated the driver, obviously unmoved by our defiance. After several other repeats of this word (and a few others which it's probably best not to perpetuate here) we got the message.

Noticing that the Jardim de Estrela housed both a cafe with seats outside it and other welcome facilities, we decided to take a refreshment break. It was very pleasant sitting among the palm trees, with the late afternoon sun dappling through them, and after a suitable time, we returned to the tram stop, this time in search of a number 25. Opinions vary on this point, but I suspect we may have caught it going in the wrong direction, because we soon found ourselves at the end of the line, with a driver shouting “Terminado!” (do they all do that?) and insisting that we all disembarked in order to get on again. Anyway, it didn't take long before we were again enjoying the routine of up and down hills, round narrow streets and ringing bells at recalcitrant motorists.

We stayed with the 25 as far as the lower entrance to the Elevador de Bica, one of Lisboa’s funicular railways. Twelve of the thirteen society members were aboard the narrow car as it pulled away from the bottom. The one left behind had a longer than expected wait, because this particular system is operated on the understandable principle that there’s no point moving until one of the cars is full. Eventually the requisite number of passengers were available, and so the party again came together at the top.

The party leader then offered the choice of a “level” walk to another funicular or the chance to return to the foot of the Bica and continue by tram. Being a trusting lot, we went for the “level” walk. This turned out to be level enough to qualify as a funicular track-bed, and after a few, shall we say, undulations, we arrived at the head of the Elevador da Glória.

Before sampling the downhill delights, we all wandered over to the edge of the cliff to look at the view across Lisboa and down to the Tejo.

Not all of the society members actually travelled downhill aboard this funicular - some saw their chance for a good photograph instead. (We hold an annual photographic competition for the members, so, who knows, perhaps these will be the winning shots!) At the Rossio end of this ride, it was decided to cross the valley and ascend by the Elevador do Ladra. This was the only problem with plan G. The Ladra cars were visible half way up the run in a dismantled state, due to maintenance. So, the party headed off for the hotel.

En route, some took the opportunity, in line with the gradually steepening gradients of the afternoon to go the whole way and have a vertical ride in the Santa Justa lift.

A short rest at the hotel was followed by a welcome resurrection of a trip tradition - the communal Chinese meal. This time, we enjoyed the convivial surroundings of the Tong Ah Chinees Restaurant (well, that’s what the sign said). A bonus was the fact that after the meal we only had about four hundred metres to walk back to the hotel.

Sunday 3 May

Sunday was another morning with an early start, but this time with no alternative for those preferring to sleep in. Plan H was to have an early breakfast at the hotel and then go from Lisboa Santa Apolónia to Porto Campanhã, thence possibly to visit the Port lodges of Villa Nova de Gaia, depending on the time, then from Porto Trindade to Lousado, on to Braga with a time-dependent trip to the Bom Jesus Sanctuary and all the way back from Braga to Lisboa Santa Apolónia.

Sad to relate, although all the society members were ready for breakfast at the hotel, the catering staff weren’t, so we went without. This proved to be a blessing in disguise, as we were able to enjoy a rather more substantial breakfast served at our seats on the Lisboa to Porto train for the equivalent of under three pounds a head.

Our train set out from Santa Apolónia on time at 0800, with five coaches being hauled by one of the powerful 5600 class electric locomotives. Due to the extensive building works for the Expo 98 site, we crawled for the first ten kilometres or so, only beginning to pick up speed once past Alverca (21 km out, reached after 18 minutes). The new main-line station which is under construction for Expo 98 looks as if it will be very impressive indeed when finished.

The journey seemed to be going reasonably well, in the sense of not losing any further time, until just north of Fatima, were the train slowed and came to a stand at signals for half a minute. After having been under way for a couple more minutes, the train halted again at a station called Caxarias, where we stood for 46 minutes.

This quiet wayside station probably didn’t see much in the way of express trains stopping, and the platform was barely large enough to accommodate all those who decided to get down from the train to stretch their legs and enjoy the fresh air. Suddenly, everyone was hustled aboard and we were away again.

Another couple of stops allowed us to observe that the reason for the delay was single-track working due to bridge rebuilding. Once that source of delay was behind us, we made up a little time, but still arrived at Porto Campanhã almost an hour down. This left no time at all for the optional Port lodges, so we caught a train to São Bento, which is one of the two stations in the centre of Porto.

The other station in the middle of Porto is Trindade, named after the imposing church which stands in front of it. While a couple of party members took a slow uphill walk to Trindade, the others undertook a quick sightseeing tour. (Warning: this is only recommended for fit people on a cool day!) The party reconvened at Trindade just in time for the train which we understood was going to Lousado.

Once under way, it came as a bit of a surprise when the guard told us that the train no longer went as far as Lousado, and instead would terminate at Trofa, a couple of kilometres short. Still, all was not lost, as we would be able to get a connection from Trofa to Braga. Thus assured, we relaxed on the pleasant journey. The line from Porto Trindade to Trofa is metre gauge, compared with the majority of the CP system, whose gauge is 1.668 metres. The narrow-gauge line passes through pleasant rural scenery in an undulating landscape, and in places it seemed that we were going faster than we had on the main line.

We had 17 minutes to wait at Trofa for our train. When it arrived, we boarded it and made ourselves comfortable. After leaving Nine, it became apparent that we took the wrong route at the junction. Well, it was right for the train, but wrong for us. We should have changed at Nine. So, we disembarked at the first stop we could, which was a town called Barcelos.

It appeared that we had arrived in the middle of a religious festival, because people were coming from everywhere, and in the end were standing six deep on the slender platform (when, that is, they were not standing on the Permanent Way) waiting for the same southbound train as we wanted. When it arrived, it was only a four coach train, but something of a modern miracle happened, and the platform was empty when it left. A quick dash across the platform at Nine found us on the Braga branch train, this time with three coaches.

When we arrived at Braga, we were, surprisingly, only half an hour down on the Plan H schedule. Nevertheless, a significant proportion of the party decided time was too short to visit Bom Jesus. Some funicular fans took the opposite view, and managed to travel on the railway at the sanctuary thanks to a taxi which took them to the top station, and allowed them to ride down to catch a bus to return to Braga with a few minutes to spare before starting the return to Lisboa.

A highlight of the return journey was that we ate dinner at our seats, which actually took rather longer to arrive than some of us were expecting. A three course meal with wine and coffee came to less than £15 per head. It wasn’t only the meal which was delayed on the return. The train once again met with delays in the Caxarias area and also once again crawled into Lisboa, arriving at Santa Apolónia at 0025, against a booked time of 2330. With a huge queue for taxis, we decided to walk the mile or so back to the hotel.

Monday 4 May

One result of the late arrival at Lisboa was that at least we had some CP mileage on the Monday. After breakfast at the hotel, we split into two groups, one of which crossed the Tejo to Barreiro for a pre-booked visit to the diesel locomotive works, while the other visited the statue of Christ the King and other cultural venues.

The works visit was extremely interesting, and it hardly mattered at all that our friendly guide did not speak English. As true enthusiasts, we knew what we were looking at and didn’t need to be told that much (well, we think we knew what we were looking at!) We did, however, have the benefit of an English introduction from another member of staff, who explained that the works was on the site of the original station at Barreiro - the station which now serves the ferry is a more recent replacement.

The works was very impressively laid out, with a logical sequence to all the operations. The locomotives enter the works at one end, are stripped down, the parts are maintained, and then the locomotives are reassembled and repainted before leaving the works and returning to traffic.

There were representatives of most of the CP broad gauge diesel classes present in the works when we visited, and the works employees were friendly and co-operative. All in all, an excellent visit. By the time we left the works, a couple of hours had passed, and there was just a short chance to photograph some of the locomotives standing outside the depot before having to return to the ferry to cross back to Lisboa.

The member of our party who had joined us at Rossio was able to undertake further travelling during the afternoon, because he had a later flight than the rest of us, so we parted company with him in the Praça do Comércio. In fact, he went to sample the trains on the Estoril line that we had travelled on during Friday.

For the rest of the party, it was back to the hotel to pick up cases, to a sandwich bar for some food, and then on to the airport.

The return flight was, if possible, even less eventful than the outward leg. Soon we were over cloud-covered Britain, and had to cope with a temperature drop of almost 10 degrees Celsius at Gatwick as compared with Lisboa. One new experience for some was a ride on the little train connecting the two terminal buildings at Gatwick. Soon it was back to Thames Trains and normality. A smart change at Reading saw us back at Basingstoke exactly on time and according to plan.