Lisbon Trams Part One:
Trams of Today

Above left: "A good reason to take the tram" is the slogan for Tagus beer displayed on this Siemens tram, pictured at Praça da Figueira in 2003. Above, right: Siemens articulated tram, no.505 at Belém, June, 2005.

Lisbon Trams of Today

Current Fleet

In late 1999 some retired 700 class trams had to return to service on route 28, as the 'remodelados' were suffering from a spate of compressor failures. In 2009 Carris listed the available 700 series trams as nine in total, numbered (720-713-717-732-733-735-741-742-744) and built between 1936 and 1947. However, in November 2011, all class 700s were withdrawn as an economy measure, apart from 722 and 745 which operate as "Christmas trams".

Tram 720 is reserved for the museum and so is not used currently whilst in 2009, tram 742 was out of service (broken axle?). Other 700 trams that appear are the Christmas trams 722 & 745 which come out in December. (I am grateful to David Gourlay for some of the above information).

Operational Fleet All service trams are operated by Carris, (Companhia Carris de Ferro de Lisboa), founded in 1872. Some sense of variety is instilled by the wide use of advertising liveries which adorn the majority of vehicles. The articulated trams mostly bear all-over advertising which, in most cases, also covers the windows. Whilst passengers can see out through the advertising, awaiting passengers find it difficult to see whether the tram is crowded or not, or indeed where the doors are. But, by 2005, increasing numbers of the remodelados trams had been restored to the traditional yellow and white livery, without advertising on the exterior. Fleet numbers 501-510 These comprise ten three-section trams built by Siemens and used exclusively on the coastal route #15 to Algés from Praça da Figueira. They entered public service in April, 1995. These trams are air-conditioned and hold 210 passengers, including those standing. Their overall length is 24.02 metres and they have 65 seats. They have two 105kw motors and can reach 70km/hr. All are single-ended, with four sets of 'plug-type' sliding doors and interior digital indicators indicating each tram-stop. The ten cars mostly bear all-over advertising liveries which change from time to time. Fleet numbers 541-585 These are the new numbers for 45 remodelled trams drawn from 221-282 series and from 701-724, but also including 415 and 483. (See Part Two of the Lisbon Trams page for details). The remodelados were introduced in July 1995 but are actually all older Standard cars from the 1930s, rather than the more modern lightweight vehicles of the 736 series as the Standards were of stronger original construction and had not generally been worn-out by use on the more hilly routes. They have two Skoda motors and have been generally upgraded to give a smoother journey, whilst retaining traditional tourist appeal. They have only 20 seats but space for 38 standing. All are unidirectional and have both trolley poles (for the narrower streets) and pantographs fitted. Their size is 8.382m by 2.378m. Right: Remodelados queue up in Praça do Comércio in summer 2005, awaiting an influx of tourists on an organised tour from a visiting cruise ship. Note the fitting of trolley poles as well as pantographs to each vehicle. Trolley poles are needed for the more restricted and steeper routes. Footnote: March 2010: David Gourlay wrote "Due to a shortage of remodelados recently, the 700s have seen extensive use on routes 18 and 25. They are generally used in the rush hour, but occasionally have been found running all day".

Lisbon tourist tram (2002). .

These are red, white and gold-liveried trams, fitted with Providence lifeguards which operate the tourist routes, the 'Circuito das Colinas' ('Hilly-route Circular') which passes through the steep and tortuous streets of the Alfama district from the Praça do Comércio, via Martim Moniz, to Estrela and back. Their interiors have been retro-converted to an approximation of early 20th-century fittings. One of these vehicles is seen in the accompanying photograph, in the Estrela turning loop. This journey can be duplicated by service vehicles on routes 28 and 25 for much less outlay but with the tourist trams you are guaranteed a seat and get a commentary. Service tram 28 is often very crowded. The operating tourist trams are nos. 3 to 9 and 11, (ex 726, 723, 583, 585*, 584, 546, 570 and 569 respectively) and there is even a bogie tram (#10, formerly no.355) in the "tourist" livery parked now in the Praça do Comércio as a booking office. Tourist trams no. 1 and 2 were formerly #435 and 437 respectively. *585 was previously 719.

For details of the Carris museum fleet, housed at Santo Amaro, visit the Museum Page.

Recent Developments

Right: David Gourlay's picture taken on 7 April 2010 clearly shows the new layout at P. Comércio at that time. In late March 2010, David Gourlay reported that "355 (now tourist tram #10) has been moved to its new siding on the opposite (western) side of the square". Then, on 25 February 2012, David indicated that work had started that day in Praça do Comércio "to realign the tram line running from Praça da Figueira/Rua Alfandega (westwards) towards Cais do Sodré. The line is going to be moved closer to the buildings on the north side of the square, with bus lanes being placed between the tram lines". David subsequently posted the following videos on You Tube which show the scene before and after the works were completed. Friday 30th March 2012 from tram 566 on the last day of service over the old line in Praça do Comércio. Saturday 31st March 2012 from tram 504 on the first day of service over the new line in Praça do Comércio. Zorra 395 leaving Santo Amaro with the track. Zorra 395 in Rua do Arsenal

Pictured below right, by David Gourlay, is museum tram 283 which in March made a photo stop at Corpo Santo on the curve normally used by route 25 - which may make it the first bogie tram to go there since the 19 closed in c.1991. Pictured left is Tourist Tram 10 being moved to its new location.

David also reported in 2010 that tram 720 was being refurbished in the Carris workshops as is 742, which has been out of service for quite some time.

Left: Courtesy of David Gourlay are these pictures from March/April 2010 of the track works affecting the P. do Comércio. David writes: "A new loop is currently under construction at the western end of Praça do Comércio. The whole square has been a building site for the last year but the race is on to finish it before the Pope's visit in May. The west sidings have been completely removed and the east ones shortened, though they're still in use. The track with Tourist Tram 10 is now completely isolated and the neighbouring connected siding is long enough for one tram only (and isused by all tourist trams, though there are not so many tours at this time of year). The new loop will hold probably 3 trams and there is a spur off the loop which will be 10's new home. The idea of the loop is to remove the need for the tourist trams to reverse. In high season this caused a lot of problems if a tram coming back from the tour arrived before the next one was due out, as it would then be blocking the line". Tram 10 is shown (far left) being moved to its new location.

Current Routes

Lisbon's tram network map has seen large cuts over the last 25 years. Today it has five remaining services, which are all operated by the Carris company. There has been a longstanding hope that a sixth route, the number 24, would be reopened, albeit in a shortened form from Cais do Sodré to Campolide. However, there is little immediate prospect of this development. The five surviving routes are, therefore:

15: P. Figueira to Algés (Jardim), which is a distance of about 10km. The terminus moved temporarily from P. Figueira to Alfândega in 2009 due to works in P do Comércio but has reverted to P. Figueira now. At Algés, there is a major bus station and a train station on the line to Estoril and Cascais, the latter accessible via a subway from the bus station. Shortly beyond the bus station, the tram terminates at a turning loop in Algés Jardim (Algés Garden), which is a short walk from the interesting aquarium at Dafundo. Formerly the route extended to the west via Dafundo to Cruz Quebrada, with a branch beyond to the national football stadium (Jamor). The 15 route runs from the city largely parallel to the river Tagus estuary in a westerly direction and is the only service operated by the new Siemens articulated trams which have capacity for 210 passengers. It has a useful interchange with the rail services on the Cascais Line, with city buses and with river ferries at Cais do Sodré. As well as the Siemens articulated trams, route 15 is supplemented by services operated by smaller "remodelados" trams. In 2002, this route was being half-heartedly marketed as the Linha dos Museus (Museums' Line) as it runs reasonably close to 18 museums between the Aquarium at Dafundo (Algés) and the Museu das Comunicações, near Cais do Sodré. Some short-workings to Belém operate (using the Remodelados trams) and turn in a loop just short of the Jerónimos monastery and these were formerly designated as route 15A.

All other routes are operated by the smaller "remodelados" trams.

Since September 2010 the weekend service has ended around 1-2 pm on Saturday. There is no service on Sundays or public holidays.

25: This route runs Rua da Alfândega, via Estrela basilica, to the Prazeres cemetery in western Lisbon. A 10-15 minute frequency of service is operated. In the evenings the service is replaced by mini-bus services. This is an interesting route via the hilly Buenos Aires district, past numerous embassies, an area which is otherwise off the tourist track. Line 25E has no service at all on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays (as at June 2011) and is replaced by a minibus service. Left: A 25 service at Corpo Santo, July 2003. 28: Martim Moniz to Prazeres. This is the classic tram route of Lisbon with extensive hilly and narrow streets in the Alfama district. There is also a steep, twisting section as the route leaves Lisbon centre towards Prazeres, up the Calçada de S. Francisco. Services operate about every seven minutes, though short-workings to Estrela are included in these timings. Eastbound trams for the Alfama are invariably crowded by the time they reach the Rua da Conceição in central Lisbon, so it can be wise to board in the opposite direction (towards Estrela and Prazeres) and return to the Alfama from that end of the route. Prazeres cemetery itself is itself an interesting spot and has good views across the Alcântara valley which include the Tagus bridge, the docks and Alcântara-Terra station of Portuguese Railways. Heading out of central Lisbon towards Prazeres, there is an impressively steep curve at the west end of the Rua da Conceição as the line leaves the city centre, heading west. The Estrela Park, which is 3/4 of the way to Prazeres is a pleasant spot, opposite the basilica, to break the journey. This shown on the pdf at the Carris web site. That same schedule shows an August schedule but 18E was cancelled for August at the last minute last year. Tram 28E should have resumed its peak schedule at the beginning of March until the end of September. This was new last July 7th. From the Martim Moniz, Graca end dias uteis trips decline to 114 from October to February from 127 during the peak season. Peak Sabados schedules have 136 trips, off season has 102. Peak Domingos e Feriados schedules have 121 trips peak and 96 off-season. Its all shown on the 28E pdf schedule on the Carris web site.

Use of Trams

Stops

Getting On and Off

Depots The sole tram depot is at Santo Amaro, between central Lisbon and Belém. Visitors to the Carris museum get a free tram ride within the depot complex as part of the admission price. The Bolaria café across the road affords a good vantage point for watching tram movements at Santo Amaro. This depot has been in existence since before the electric trams arrived in 1901. Formerly other tram depots existed in Lisbon. One of these was the Arco de Cego depot, built in 1902 on a 29,176sq.m. site acquired in 1882, but this closed in the 1990s. By then it had lost 9,000sq. metres of land to the national mint. Arco do Cego then acquired a new lease of life as Lisbon's main long-distance coach station but this is now decommissioned and the site is being converted into a leisure facility (2005). For details, see the Lisbon Suburban Bus and Coach page. A third depot closed in 1981 at Amoreiras and is now the site of a modernistic shopping centre. Carris bus depots have opened at Pontinha (1975), Musgueira (1981) and Miraflores (1983).

Above: Santo Amaro depot in July, 2000