Lisbon Metro

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Lisbon Metro
Locale	Lisbon
Transit type	Rapid transit
Began operation	1959
System length	39 km (24 mi)
No. of lines	4
No. of stations	46

The Lisbon Metro (Portuguese: Metropolitano de Lisboa) is the metro (subway) system that provides Lisbon, Portugal with mass-transit services. It was the first subway in Portugal.

As of 2007, the four Lisbon subway lines total about 39 km in length and comprise 46 stations.

1 History
2 Lines
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Lisbon Metro System

Construction was started on 7 August 1955, and actual service began on 29 December 1959 with a Y-shaped line with two branches starting at Sete Rios (now Jardim Zoológico) and Entre Campos that joined at Rotunda (now Marquês de Pombal) to continue to Restauradores in the city centre. The total track length was then 6.5 km. In subsequent years the northern branches were extended in several steps to Colégio Militar (now Colégio Militar-Luz) and Campo Grande, respectively. The southern branch was extended via Rossio, Anjos and Alvalade to finally form a loop at Campo Grande. In 1995 the station at Marquês de Pombal was reconstructed to split the network into two lines, the Blue Line (linha Azul) from Colégio Militar-Luz to Campo Grande and the Yellow Line (linha Amarela) from Campo Grande to Marquês de Pombal. In May 1998 a third line, the Red Line (linha vermelha) was opened to connect Alameda to the exhibition grounds of the Expo 98 at Oriente. The Blue line was split into two; it now ends at Santa Apolónia; the section until Campo Grande has become the Green Line (linha Verde) with a new terminus at Cais Sodre. In 2004 the Blue, Yellow and Green lines were further extended to end at Amadora Este, Odivelas and Telheiras, respectilvely. As of 2005, total track length is 36.9 km. On December 19th 2007 the Blue line was extended to Santa Apolónia.

Inside one of the trains.

The Red Line is currently being extended at its Western end to São Sebastião via Saldanha station, making it possible to go from any line to another without changing trains more than once. An extension to Portela Airport has been announced which has caused controversy as the airport is scheduled to be replaced in about 10 years, and might reduce the usefulness of the station, depending on the future usage of the area.

Inside a blue-line train in normal usage, near the "Parque" station

Once these extensions are completed to system will be served by 52 stations and will be 40 Km. long.

Extensions to the Green and Yellow lines are also being studied.

[edit] Lines

There are 4 lines and 46 stations. The lines were formerly known by picturesque names; logos based on the former names are still used.

Colour	Name	Terminals	Stations	Length	History
Linha Azul Blue Line	Linha da Gaivota Seagull Line	Santa Apolónia Amadora Este	17	14 km	1959: Sete Rios (now Jardim Zoológico) - Restauradores 1988: Sete Rios - Colégio Militar (now Colégio Militar-Luz) 1997: Colégio Militar-Luz - Pontinha 1998: Baixa-Chiado (Blue and Green Lines split) 2004: Pontinha - Amadora Este 2007: Baixa-Chiado - Santa Apolónia
Linha Amarela Yellow Line	Linha do Girassol Sunflower Line	Rato Odivelas	13	11 km	1959: Entre Campos - Restauradores 1988: Entre Campos - Cidade Universitária 1993: Cidade Universitária - Campo Grande 1997: Rotunda (now Marquês de Pombal) - Rato 2004: Campo Grande - Odivelas
Linha Verde Green Line	Linha da Caravela Caravel Line	Cais do Sodré Telheiras	13	9 km	1972: Restauradores - Alvalade 1993: Alvalade - Campo Grande 1998: Baixa-Chiado - Cais do Sodré (Blue and Green lines split) 2002: Campo Grande - Telheiras
Linha Vermelha Red Line	Linha do Oriente Orient Line	Alameda Oriente	7	6 km	1998: Alameda - Oriente