The first part of the system was opened in 1959 between Sete Rios / Entre Campos and Restauradores showing a Y form system. The eastern branch to Alvalade was built until 1972. The extensions from Sete Rios to Colégio Militar-Luz and from Entre Campos to Cidade Universitária were opened in 1988. Finally, in 1993, the eastern and the middle branch met at Campo Grande forming a circle (although trains did never run in a circle). Until 1995 trains starting at Campo Grande would run via Alameda alternately to Colégio Militar-Luz or back to Campo Grande via Cidade Universitária. Then in 1995, the line (90 % underground) was split into two lines with very poetic names:

Linha da Gaivota (Seagull line): Colégio Militar/Luz - Campo Grande via Alameda
Linha do Girassol (Sunflower line): Rotunda - Campo Grande

In 1998, coinciding with the Lisbon Expo98, the first stage of the metro extension project was finished. In Dec 2008, the system has four lines with a total length of 40 km long (47 stations, of which 4 are transfer stations):

Blue Line - Linha da Gaivota (14km - 17 stations) extension north from Colégio Militar/Luz to Pontinha (2 stations) opened Oct. 1997 and after splitting the line in the city centre it runs from Restauradores via Baixa-Chiado (Aug. 1998) down to the harbour at Terreiro do Paço and further to Sta. Apolónia railway station (2008).

In March 1998 some station names changed: Colégio Militar/Luz > Colégio Militar, Sete Rios > Jardim Zoológico, Palhavã > Praça de Espanha, Rotunda > Marquês de Pombal

Yellow Line - Linha do Girassol (11km - 13 stations) was extended from Rotunda to Rato in Dec. 1997. In 1999 construction work started on a northern extension to Odivelas. This 5km extension opened on 27 March 2004, almost doubling the Yellow Line's length. The new stretch runs in tunnel between Campo Grande and Senhor Roubado and then on a bridge to Odivelas across a large valley in this area.

Green Line - Linha da Caravela (Caravel line) (9km - 13 stations) is the name of the remaining eastern branch split from the Gaivota line. It runs from Campo Grande via Alameda, Rossio, Baixa-Chiado to the Cais do Sodré railway station (April 1998) by the harbour. An extension from Campo Grande to Telheiras (1 station) was taken into service in Oct. 2002. Some projects show additional stations: Madrid between Areeiro and Roma, and Calvanas between Alvalade and Campo Grande. Later this line is planned to be extended towards Pontinha.

In March 1998 Socorro station was renamed into Martim Moniz.

Red Line - Linha do Oriente (Eastern line) (6km- 7 stations) is a totally new line serving the Expo98 area at Oriente from 19 May 1998. The line starts at Alameda on the Caravela line and has 7 stations.

Metro Lisboa decorates all stations with some artistic elements (see official page below) which is especially visible on the new Oriente Line (mainly interesting Olaias, Chelas and Oriente stations). Older stations are of a very simple design with small wall decorations.

Unfortunately lots of (even new) stations lack escalators, especially between the platforms and the vestibule. The huge transfer station at Baixa-Chiado, for example, allows cross-platform transfer in one direction, but to get up to the distribution corridor and down again passengers have to go to the end of the platforms where the only stairs but no escalators are located.

Transfer at Marquês de Pombal and Alameda is also quite a long way and although stairs are very wide there were no escalators built in. Hopefully this will be corrected in the future.

More photos

All photos 1999 © Robert Schwandl

Click here for detailed Lisbon metro history (thanks to Alex Riabov).

 Other Rail Transit in Greater Lisbon

CP - Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (Portuguese Railways) operates a suburban service on 3 main routes:

Linha de Sintra (from Lisboa-Roma/Areeiro via Benfica to Sintra; Rossio station temporarily out of service)
Linha de Cascais (from Lisboa-Cais do Sodré via Belém to Cascais)
Linha de Azambuja (from Lisboa-Sta. Apolónia via Oriente to Azambuja)

Since July 1999, a new rail link across the Ponte 25 de Abril (Tagus bridge) has been operated by FERTAGUS between Roma-Areeiro and Fogueteiro on the south bank with trains every 10-20 minutes. On 6 October 2004, Fertagus extended the suburban railway service from Fogueteiro to Setúbal (hourly).

Unfortunately adjacent metro and rail stations do not always have the same name:

CP station Rossio is served by Metro Restauradores (not Rossio)
CP station Sete Rios is served by Jardim Zoológico (renamed from Sete Rios!)

Eléctricos (Trams)

Lisbon is famous for its old-style tram lines that serve the hilly neighborhoods of Alfama and Chiado (lines 12 and 28) but only a few lines of the once large tram network are left over. Line 15 to Belém is served by modern low floor trams.

Oeiras Mini-Metro

A new transportation system opened on 7 June 2004 in the municipality of Oeiras, west of Lisbon. The system called SATU (for Sistema Automático de Transportes Urbanos de Oeiras) is similar to a monorail but with wheels. It starts from Paço de Arcos station on the CP Cascais suburban line and might eventually be connected to the Sintra line. Currently it has 3 stations (Navegantes - at the CP station, Tapada and Fórum). In the near future it will be extended to Lagoas Park and Tagus Park (2008). (Website)

Metro do Sul do Tejo

On the south shore of the Tagus River, a light rail network operating mostly on separate right-of-way is under construction. The first section from Corroios to Cova da Piedade opened on 30 April 2007. The western branch from Cova da Piedade to Universidade was brought into service on 15 Dec 2007.

For details visit the official website.

Under construction:

Red Line Alameda - São Sebastião (Dec. 2008?)
Red Line Oriente - Aeroporto (construction started in Feb. 2007)

Later the yellow line will be extended from Rato to Estrela and Alcântara Mar, the red line should be extended to the west towards Campolide, Campo de Ourique and to Miraflores. An eastern extension will lead to Moscavide and then a branch north to Sacavém. The Green Line will be extended from Telheiras to Pontinha (3km).

The capital of Portugal has about 564.000 inhabitants (with more than 2.6 million in the metropolitan area) and held the World Exhibition in 1998.

The Lisboa Metro operates from 6h30 to 1.00 with a minimum interval of 4 minutes on the Girassol line and 3 minutes on the Gaivota line during rush hours. Certain station entrances close at 21h30.

Stations have an average length of 105 m (6-cars possible) and power is supplied by third rail.

The Blue and the Yellow Line use 6-car-trains, the Green Line uses 4-car-trains and the Red Line 3-car-trains.

- FARES (2007 in Euros)

The Lisboa metropolitan area is devided into 4 zones: L, 1, 2, 3. All metro stops (except Odivelas, Senhor Roubado, Alfornelos, Amadora Este) are within the central L (urbano) zone:

Metro only:

Single ticket - EUR 0.75
10 rides - EUR 6.90

Metro + Carris buses and trams:

Single ticket - EUR 1.20
Day Pass - EUR 3.50

Official transport websites:

METROPOLITANO DE LISBOA official page - including a special section on subway art

CP - Rail services in the Greater Lisbon area

Carris (Tram and Bus Operator)

Fertagus (Cross-Tagus Rail Link)

Metro do Sul do Tejo (Light rail on south bank of Tagus River)

Other websites:

Scanned map from my collection - (planned network for 2000 on city map) (170K)

UrbanRail.Net > Lisbon Metro Gallery

Nuno Fonseca's Lisbon Metro Photos