Linha do Algarve is a

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

in the region of

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, in southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, which connects the stations of

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

to the west and

Vila Real de Santo António Vila Real de Santo António () is a city, civil parish, and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,156, in an area of 61.25 km2. It is one of the few municipalities in Portugal without territorial continuity: its ...

to the east of the Portuguese region.

Geography

The line runs

east East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

west West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

along the southern municipalities of the Algarve, except for part of

Lagos municipality Lagos (; ) is a city and municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 km2 ...

and all of

Vila do Bispo municipality Vila do Bispo () is a municipality (''concelho'') in the Portuguese Algarve. It has 5,717 inhabitants in an area of 179.06 km2. History The first references to this region referred to the ''Aldeia do Bispo'' in the 14th century, in a char ...

which doesn't have railway. The main stations are

Tavira Tavira (), officially the City of Tavira (), is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the riv ...

Olhão Olhão (), officially known as Olhão da Restauração, is a city and concelho, municipality in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 45,396, in an area of . Located near the regional capital Faro, ...

, Faro,

Albufeira Albufeira (, ), officially the City of Albufeira (), is a List of cities in Portugal, city and Concelho, municipality of Faro District in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper ...

Tunes Tunes may refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Tunes (Silves), a parish in Portugal * Tunes, Norway, a village in Norway * Tunes, Tunisia, now Tunis, eponymous capital city of Tunisia ** Tunes (see), a suppressed Latin Catholic titular bishopri ...

, Silves,

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

and

. Other stations include

Fuseta Fuseta () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Olhão, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Moncarapacho e Fuseta. The parish occupies an area of approximately and at the 2001 census had a population of 2,146. This p ...

, Bom João (Faro),

Almancil Almancil () is a town and ''freguesia'' in the Loulé Municipality, in the affluent Golden Triangle region of the Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It ...

Algoz Algoz () is a town and the seat of the civil parish of Algoz e Tunes in the municipality of Silves, in Algarve, Portugal. It has about 3000 inhabitants. History According to some theories, the name of the town has its origins in the Arabic wor ...

and

Estômbar Estômbar is a town in the civil parish of Estômbar e Parchal, in the municipality (''concelho'') of Lagoa, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 4,985, in an area of 24.21 km2. It is situated just west of the city of Lagoa itself. Its civil ...

Operation

Passengers and cargo

All passenger services are run by the national railway operator

Comboios de Portugal CP — Comboios de Portugal, EPE (; ) is a state-owned company which operates passenger trains in Portugal. Prior to June 2009, CP stood for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (English: ''Portuguese Railways'') although the company has been using it ...

. Cargo services are operated by Medway. The infrastructure is owned and maintained by Infraestruturas de Portugal. The main railway station is Faro, the most important cargo terminal is Loulé. Four passenger services operate on the Linha do Algarve. The

Alfa Pendular Alfa Pendular is the name of the flagship Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company Comboios de Portugal. Since the 1990's it connects the near-coastal and coastal cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santar ...

, Intercidades, CP Regional, and a special service during the summer, the InterRegional. The CP Regional trains operate the line completely from east to west with an interchange at Faro. The Alfa Pendular, Intercidades and InterRegional only serve Messines-Alte, Tunes, Albufeira, Loulé, and Faro. The track from

to Vila Real de Santo António - Guadiana, which linked the line to the

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

Ayamonte Ayamonte (; ) is a town and municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Huelva, Andalusia. It is located near the border with Portugal on the mouth of the Guadiana River. According to the 2015 census, the city had a population of 20,357 in ...

, in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, is closed.

History

In 1858, the expansion of the Linha do Sul, today Linha do Alentejo, from Beja to

was planned; in 1864, the contract between Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro de Sul e Sueste and the Portuguese state was signed. The connection to Faro was completed on 21 February 1889, but only opened on 1 July of the same year. The railway reached Olhão on 28 March 1904 (although the station was only opened on 15 May of that yearMarques, 1999:391), Fuseta railway station on 1 September, Luz on 31 January 1905, Tavira on 19 March, and Vila Real de Santo António on 14 April 1906. Towards Lagos, the stations of

Ferragudo Ferragudo is a Portugal, Portuguese freguesia, civil parish at the western border of the municipality of Lagoa Municipality (Algarve), Lagoa. The population in 2011 was 1,973, in an area of 5.41 km2. Ferragudo serves mainly as a bedroom commun ...

and

were opened on 10 October 1889, 15 February 1903 and 30 July 1922. The Vila Real de Santo António – Guadiana station was opened in the 1940's and closed in 1998. Trains now finish their journey at the 'town' station some 1km short of the river and ferry. Work began in late 2022 on a project to modernise and electify the Faro to Vila Real de Santo António and Tunes to Lagos sections. As of May 2024, work between Faro and Vila Real de Santo António is well advanced. The Tunes to Lagos section is several months behind, having started later. The smaller stations are being equipped with modern high platforms, along with new shelters and lighting. Several level (Grade) crossings are to be eliminated by the construction of bridges.

References

Bibliography