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The
train network in Portugal,
run by the state owned company
Comboios de Portugal since 1997, is
relatively good with three distinct lines – Alfa
Pendular, Intercidades and Regional providing a good
coverage to most rural areas of the country.
In
Portugal you
will, for longer journeys say of over 30 minutes you
will not only be allocated a specific carriage, but a
seat within the carriage when you purchase your ticket.
If you are aware of
this system it can cause some confusion. Even if you are
in a semi-deserted carriage with plenty of other
available seats you will be asked to move by the person
whose seat you are occupying such is the adherence to
the ticketing system. The carriage number and seat
allocation is printed on the ticket.
Another sometimes
alarming peculiarity in Portuguese train travel, is the
situation of reaching the right platform to take the
train you wish ride upon. Although major
train stations in Portugal
(Lisbon and Porto) have passenger friendly bridges and
underpasses
ensuring travellers do not traverse the tracks, most other smaller
stations do not.
Elsewhere at
stations where there are more than one line, it is
necessary to cross the tracks to reach the right platform.
It is not a case of passengers clambering down onto the
live rails, though this does happen. Moreover there are
special re-enforced sections with steps down to cross.
For passengers using wheelchairs there are ramps to
access these paths across the lines.
Today
there
are two types of trains which operate in
Portugal,
diesel and electric. For the most part passenger trains
operate on the electric system, though in some more
rural areas of the country this is not possible and
therefore the older diesel engines, suffice.
However
for the most part,
Portugal, which
is a forward thinking country as far as energy
efficiency and renewable energies go, only utilises
diesel engines for freight, which with heavier loads
requires a stronger, conventional pull. |
