Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses
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Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (CP; English: Portuguese Railways) is the state railway company in Portugal.
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[edit] The history
On October 28, 1856, the first railway line was inaugurated in Portugal, between Lisbon and Carregado: the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses was born. The network was gradually expanded both South of the Tagus and to the North of the country, as well as in the Metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto and to Spain.
Slowly, electrification was put in place in most of the lines. In 1975, the company was nationalized and its name was shortened to CP, which used to stand for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses. However, in 2004, the meaning changed to Comboios de Portugal because CP now only operates trains, since the railway infrastructure is maintained by REFER.
[edit] The network
CP's top service is Alfa Pendular, which operates between Braga - Porto - Lisbon - Faro, at a top speed of 220 km/h (138 mph) with FIAT/Siemens tilting trains, created in 1999. As of 2006, CP's network reaches most of the country [1].
CP inaugurated new trains in suburban service in the 1990s.
[edit] Merge from REFER
REFER, EP (EP stands for Empresa Publica, which translates in English as "public enterprise") is the Portuguese rail infrastructure manager, since 1997.
Portuguese railway network extension:
- Broad gauge (1668 mm): 2603 km, 1351 km electrified at 25 kV 50 Hz and 25 km at 1.5kV DC.
- Narrow gauge (1000 mm): 188 km not electrified.
- The maximum extension was 3592 km reached in 1949, but in the late 1980s and early 1990s some lines were shortened and some totally closed.
