Porto Metro

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The Porto Metro (Metro do Porto), part of the mass transit public transport system of Porto, Portugal, is a light-rail network of electrified railways that run underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs. The Porto Metro was founded in 2002, and it was for years one of the major construction sites in the European Union.

The network has 5 independent lines and reaches six municipalities within the metropolitan Porto area: Porto, Maia, Matosinhos, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila do Conde and Vila Nova de Gaia. It currently has a total of 68 operational stations across 60.0 km of double commercial line. 8 km of the network is underground, while most is at ground level or elevated. The system is run by Transdev

Contents 1 History 2 Trains 3 Tickets 4 Network 4.1 Line A: Senhor de Matosinhos - Estádio do Dragão (blue) 4.2 Line B: Póvoa de Varzim - Estádio do Dragão (red) 4.3 Line B Expresso: Póvoa de Varzim - Estádio do Dragão (red) 4.4 Line C: ISMAI - Estádio do Dragão (green) 4.5 Line D: João de Deus - Hospital de São João (yellow) 4.6 Line E: Airport - Estádio do Dragão (violet) 5 Funicular dos Guindais 6 Future expansion 7 See also 8 External links

[edit] History

Line A (blue line) between Senhor de Matosinhos and Trindade in central Porto was the first Porto Metro line to open, in 2002. The line was extended in 2004 to Estádio do Dragão, in time for the Euro 2004 Football championship.

On April 14, 2005, Line B (red line) opened. The Casa da Música concert hall (which has a station on the combined ABCE line) opened on the same day.

Line C (green line) opened on July 30, 2005, reaching the centre of Maia. An extension to ISMAI opened in March 2006.

Line D (yellow line) proved the most problematic to excavate and opened in 2005. The line runs from João de Deus and Vila Nova de Gaia in the south before crossing the River Douro and passing through central Porto en route to Hospital São João in the north. The Hospital São João and IPO stations were not brought into service until April 2006 due to safety concerns, and some services on this line still terminate at Polo Universitario.

Line E (violet line) opened on May 27, 2006, connecting the Airport Francisco Sá Carneiro and Campanhã. Several weeks later, the line was extended until Estádio do Dragão. An end-to-end journey takes 33 minutes, with trains departing every 25 minutes.

Lines A, B, C & E follow the same course within the City of Porto (from Estádio do Dragão to Senhora da Hora) before splitting into separate lines. The transfer point between Line ABCE and Line D is at Trindade in central Porto.

[edit] Trains

The Metro uses modern Bombardier Flexity Outlook "Eurotram" low-floor, dual-carriage trains. New Flexity Swift tram-trains are due to be used in the red line in 2008, these new trains will reach 100 km per hour, have more seats and can even recover 30% of the total of the consumed energy during lockwire.

The majority of services run with two trains coupled together. The Eurotram train consists of four main compartments, two in each carriage linked by short corridors, and also features a "swivel" between the two carriages. It has a capacity of 80 seated and 134 standing passengers.

[edit] Tickets

The system uses the "Andante" ticketing system, the first fully contactless ticketing system used in public transportation in the world. Machines in stations issue and can recharge Andante Azul - blue "Occasional" tickets, while Andante Gold is a credit-card style "Gold" tickets (which bear a scanned photograph of the holder) that can be purchased in Lojas Andante (Andante Shops). Tickets can also be topped up at Multibanco ATM terminals.

Tickets must be validated before travel by scanning them in front of the yellow machines located in stations. A validated occasional ticket allows for unlimited travel within a specified time period, currently 1 hour for the minimum 2-zone ticket, and longer as the number of valid zones increases. The gold passes allow unlimited travel within a pre-defined area, and are available in "anytime" or cheaper "10/16" (off-peak) versions. There is also a daily ticket, known as Andante 24 that allows the user to make unlimited trips within a given day.

There are no entry barriers on the system and groups of ticket enforcers make random spot checks on passengers with hand-held scanners. The current penalty for travelling without a validated ticket is €77.

The metro uses the same zoning system as the bulk of public transport providers in the Porto metropolitan area, which is divided into Central (C), North (N) and South (S) zones, and further divided into numbered sub-zones. The C1 zone in central Porto is effectively the area contained within the VCI (Via Cintura Interna) inner ring-road, while zones C2 and C6 are the areas between the VCI and the Estrada da Circunvalação outer ring-road.

The Andante system is being rolled out across the entire Porto public transit network. STCP bus routes and some other bus routes currently accept Andante and the intention is for the entire bus, metro and suburban train network to become integrated. The same ticket can be used in downtown Porto trams and the cable car (Funicular dos Guindais).

[edit] Network

[edit] Line A: Senhor de Matosinhos - Estádio do Dragão (blue)

Travel time: 39 minutes and 14 seconds

Waiting time: 10 minutes

1. Senhor de Matosinhos (Zone C3)
2. Mercado
3. Brito Capelo
4. Matosinhos Sul
5. Matosinhos - Câmara
6. Parque de Real
7. Pedro Hispano
8. Estádio do Mar
9. Vasco da Gama (Zone C3)
10. Senhora da Hora Transfer to lines B, C, and E (Zone C2)
11. Sete Bicas
12. Viso
13. Ramalde (Zone C2)
14. Francos (Zone C1)
15. Casa da Música
16. Carolina Michaëlis
17. Lapa
18. Trindade Transfer to line D
19. Bolhão
20. Campo 24 de Agosto
21. Heroísmo
22. Campanhã Transfer to mainline trains
23. Estádio do Dragão (Zone C1)

[edit] Line B: Póvoa de Varzim - Estádio do Dragão (red)

Travel time: ~65 minutes

Waiting time: 20 minutes

1. Póvoa de Varzim (Zone N3)
2. São Brás
3. Portas Fronhas
4. Alto de Pêga
5. Vila do Conde
6. Santa Clara (Zone N3)
7. Azurara (Zone N2)
8. Árvore
9. Varziela
10. Espaço Natureza
11. Mindelo (Zone N2)
12. Modivas Centro (Zone N10)
13. Modivas Sul
14. Vilar de Pinheiro
15. Lidador
16. Pedras Rubras
17. Verdes Transfer to line E (Zone N10)
18. Crestins (Zone C5)
19. Esposade
20. Custóias
21. Fonte do Cuco Transfer to line C (Zone C5)
22. Senhora da Hora Transfer to line A (Zone C2)
23. Sete Bicas
24. Viso
25. Ramalde (Zone C2)
26. Francos (Zone C1)
27. Casa da Música
28. Carolina Michaëlis
29. Lapa
30. Trindade Transfer to line D
31. Bolhão
32. Campo 24 de Agosto
33. Heroísmo
34. Campanhã Transfer to mainline trains
35. Estádio do Dragão (Zone C1)

[edit] Line B Expresso: Póvoa de Varzim - Estádio do Dragão (red)

Shuttle service between Póvoa de Varzim and Porto

Travel time: ~53 minutes

Fixed Waiting time: 60 minutes

1. Póvoa de Varzim
2. Vila do Conde
3. Pedras Rubras
4. Verdes (while the initial fase of Line E is running)
5. Senhora da Hora Transfer to lines A, B, and C

• Then as Line B to Estádio do Dragão

[edit] Line C: ISMAI - Estádio do Dragão (green)

Travel time: ~43 minutes

Waiting time: 15 minutes

1. ISMAI (Zone N11)
2. Castêlo da Maia
3. Mandim
4. Zona Industrial (Zone N11)
5. Fórum Maia (Zone C5)
6. Parque Maia
7. Custió
8. Araújo
9. Pias
10. Cândido dos Reis
11. Fonte do Cuco Transfer to lines B and E (Zone C5)
12. Senhora da Hora Transfer to line A (Zone C2)
13. Sete Bicas
14. Viso
15. Ramalde (Zone C2)
16. Francos (Zone C1)
17. Casa da Música
18. Carolina Michaëlis
19. Lapa
20. Trindade Transfer to line D
21. Bolhão
22. Campo 24 de Agosto
23. Heroísmo
24. Campanhã Transfer to mainline trains
25. Estádio do Dragão (Zone C1)

[edit] Line D: João de Deus - Hospital de São João (yellow)

Travel time: 19 minutes and 30 seconds

Waiting time: 5-10 minutes

1. João de Deus (Zone S8)
2. Câmara de Gaia
3. General Torres Transfer to local trains
4. Jardim do Morro (Zone S8)
5. São Bento Transfer to local trains and funicular (Zone C1)
6. Aliados
7. Trindade Transfer to lines A, B, C, and E)
8. Faria Guimarães
9. Marquês
10. Combatentes
11. Salgueiros (Zone C1)
12. Pólo Universitário (Zone C6) (some services terminate here)
13. IPO
14. Hospital de São João (Zone C6)

[edit] Line E: Airport - Estádio do Dragão (violet)

Travel time: 33 minutes

Waiting time: 20 minutes

1. Aeroporto (Airport) (Zone N10) Transfer to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport
2. Botica
3. Verdes Transfer to line B
4. Crestins (Zone C5)
5. Esposade
6. Custóias
7. Fonte do Cuco Transfer to line C (Zone C5)
8. Senhora da Hora Transfer to line A (Zone C2)
9. Sete Bicas
10. Viso
11. Ramalde (Zone C2)
12. Francos (Zone C1)
13. Casa da Música
14. Carolina Michaëlis
15. Lapa
16. Trindade Transfer to line D
17. Bolhão
18. Campo 24 de Agosto
19. Heroísmo
20. Campanhã Transfer to mainline trains
21. Estádio do Dragão (Zone C1)

[edit] Funicular dos Guindais

Main article: Funicular dos Guindais

The Metro do Porto company also operates the Funicular of Guindais, a cable-car system that was originally built in 1891 and recently remodelled. It connects the riverside area of Ribeira to higher ground at Batalha, near Sao Bento station.

[edit] Future expansion

Line A: To Leça da Palmeira

Line B: To Barreiros Neighbourhood in Póvoa de Varzim.

Line C: To Trofa

Line D: Extension to Santo Ovídio in the south and connection to Parque Maia (line C) in the north.

Line F: A proposed new line running from Casa da Musica to Matosinhos under Avenida da Boavista.

Line G: Casa da Musica to Santo Ovídio

[edit] See also

• STCP
• Lisbon Metro
• List of rapid transit systems

[edit] External links

• Metro do Porto - Official Homepage (English)
• Official website for the ticketing system
• Map of the Porto Metro network (.pdf file)
• Metro do Porto - Includes many photos
• http://nunovski.fotopic.net/ Photos
• Metro do Porto news archive