Gare do Oriente (), or alternately, the ''Lisbon Oriente Station'' is one of the main
Portuguese intermodal
transport hub
A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between mode of transport, transport modes. Public transport hubs include train station, railway stations, metro station, rapid transit stations, bus ...
s, and is situated in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Parque das Nações
The Parque das Nações (; ''Park of the Nations''), colloquially known as Expo (as the site of the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition), is a (civil parish) and typical Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter of Lisbon, the capital city of Portugal. Loca ...
,
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality' ...
of
Lisbon
Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
.
History
In 1994, the station was proposed as part of the modernization of the
Linha do Norte, a modification to the rail line to facilitate the future development of a new station in eastern Lisbon. Located along Avenida D. João II, over Avenida de Berlim and Rua Conselheiro Mariano de Carvalho,
the station was planned to occupy the lands once occupied by Apeadeiro dos Olivais, which was demolished in the 1990s in order to make way for the new station.
Bids for building the project on lands to be used for the 1998 exposition were solicited internationally. The concept was originally designed by
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
architect
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...
in 1995, and built by
Necso.
The station was inaugurated on 19 May 1998, as part of the celebrations marking the opening of the
Expo '98 world's fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
. At the time of its opening it was considered the largest intermodal station in Portugal, winning the
Brunel Award on 7 October 1998, in the category of large new construction projects.
Architecture
Oriente Station is situated in an urban area of reclaimed industrial and abandoned buildings fronting the northern margin of the Tagus River, situated from the city centre.
[Luís Cerqueira & Miguel Gregório (2004), p.19-20]
Ambitious in its conception, the modernist station includes a
Lisbon Metro
The Lisbon Metro () is a rapid transit system in Lisbon, Portugal. Opened in December 1959, it was the first rapid transit system in Portugal.
, the system's four lines total of route and serve 56 stations.
History
Initial plans
The idea ...
station, a
high-speed commuter
Commuting is periodically recurring travel between a place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regular o ...
and regional train hub, a local, national and international bus station, a shopping centre and a police station.
[Diana Ferreira Peralta (2011), p.39-41] The rail station was conceived with a multi-modal platform intersecting the cardinal axes for the various transport modes.[
With some influence from ]Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved f ...
, the station bears considerable resemblance to Santiago Calatrava's earlier Allen Lambert Galleria within Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
's Brookfield Place. Calatrava's objective was to realize a new space with ample room and functionality providing multiple connections between various zones in the metropolitan area of Lisbon.[
One important aspect of the station is its link to the urban environment in which it was constructed. The decision to elevate the rail line, for example, eliminated a physical barrier between the city and the Tagus River margin.][ The station, covered in a lattice structure of glass and metal, is constructed of reinforced concrete and raised over the roadway.][ By January 2011, there were eight lines that extended across platforms, between in height.][
]
Services
References
Notes
Sources
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External links
Portal das Nações
Discover the Orient Station
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gare Do Oriente
Santiago Calatrava structures
Railway stations in Lisbon
Neo-futurist architecture
Parque das Nações
Railway stations in Portugal opened in 1998