Linha do Algarve is a

railway line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

in the region of

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

, in southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, which connects the stations of

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

to the west and

Vila Real de Santo António Vila Real de Santo António (, often run together as ) 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 ter ...

to the east of the Portuguese region.

Geography

The line runs

east East or Orient 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 fa ...

west West or Occident 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 ...

along the

southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

municipalities of the Algarve, except for part of

Lagos municipality Lagos (; literally "lakes"; cel-x-proto, Lacobriga) 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 ...

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 () 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 river Guadiana into Spain. The Gilão ...

Olhão Olhão (), officially known as Olhão da Restauração, is a city and 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 and formi ...

, Faro,

Albufeira Albufeira () is a city and seat of its own municipality in the district of Faro, in the southernmost Portuguese region of Algarve. The municipality population in 2021 was 44,158, in an area of . The city proper had a population of 28,645 in 202 ...

, Tunes,

Silves Silves may refer to : Europe * Silves, Portugal, municipality and former bishopric in Algarve, southern Portugal ** Silves (parish), a civil parish in the municipality of Silves ** Castle of Silves, a medieval castle in civil parish of Silves * ...

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 55,614, in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão (). In 1924, it was ...

and

. Other stations include Fuseta, Bom João (Faro), Almancil,

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 Arabi ...

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

Regional 5913, Estação de Albufeira, 2011

All passenger services are run by the national railway operator

Comboios de Portugal CP — Comboios de Portugal, EPE (''CP''; English: ''Trains of Portugal'') is a state-owned company which operates passenger trains in Portugal. Before June 2009, CP stood for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (English: ''Portuguese Railways'') ...

. Cargo services are operated by

Medway Medway is a unitary authority district and conurbation in Kent, South East England. It had a population of 278,016 in 2019. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with the Borough of Gillingham to for ...

. The infrastructure is owned and maintained by

Infraestruturas de Portugal Infraestruturas de Portugal, S.A. (IP) is a state-owned company which resulted from the merger of Rede Ferroviária Nacional (REFER) and Estradas de Portugal (EP). It manages the Portuguese rail and road infrastructure. Network Road Total leng ...

. 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 CP. It connects the cities of Guimarães, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at spee ...

, Intercidades,

CP Regional CP, cp. or its variants may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Cariyapitaka (Cp), a canonical Buddhist story collection * The Canadian Press, a Canadian news agency * Child pornography * '' The Christian Post'', an American newspaper * ...

, 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 service Messines-Alte, Tunes, Albufeira, Loulé, and Faro. The track from

Vila Real de Santo António - Guadiana Vila may refer to: People * Vila (surname) Places Andorra * Vila, Andorra, a town in the parish of Encamp Brazil * Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, a municipality in the State of Mato Grosso * Vila Boa, Goiás, a municipality in the State o ...

, which linked the line to the

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

Ayamonte Ayamonte (; pt, Aiamonte) 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 popula ...

, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, is closed.

History

In 1858, the expansion of the Linha do Sul, today

Linha do Alentejo Linha do Alentejo is a railway line which connects Barreiro and Funcheira, in Portugal. The first section, from Barreiro to Bombel, was opened in 1857 as Caminho de Ferro do Sul; the section between Barreiro, Beja, and Tunes was classified ...

, 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 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 ...

on 1 September,

Luz Luz ( ''Lūz'') is the name of two places in the Bible. Mentioned in Genesis Luz is the ancient name of a royal Canaanite city, connected with Bethel (Genesis 28:19; 35:6). It is debated among scholarsRashi on 28:17 whether Luz and Bethel repres ...

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 Portuguese civil parish at the western border of the municipality of Lagoa. The population in 2011 was 1,973, in an area of 5.41 km². Ferragudo serves mainly as a bedroom community for its much larger neighbour, the city of Po ...

and

were opened on 10 October 1889, 15 February 1903 and 30 July 1922.Coutinho, 2008:81 The Vila Real de Santo António – Guadiana station was opened in the 1940s.

References

Bibliography