Simon Maarfield
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simonmaarfield.bsky.social
Simon Maarfield
@simonmaarfield.bsky.social
85 followers 30 following 140 posts
Eisenbahner, transport planner, rail fan, environmentalist
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The last stop in Portugal is in newly electrified Elvas. 16 passengers remain to cross the border to Badajoz, Spain, where there's a 22-minute cross-platform connection to Mérida and Madrid, 4h30m away. Today this would have worked, but I'm staying the night in Badajoz.
#CrossBorderRail
It would be an underestimate to say this region is sparcely populated! But to my surprise, we maintain 100+ km/h for most of the route. #CrossBorderRail
On my day of travel, the load factor from Abrantes is about 40%. Any more than this makes for a very uncomfortable experience in the 3+2 seating with legroom for just one adult. In Portalegre (located 9 km from town) we lose half the remaining passengers. #CrossBorderRail
You can leave Abrantes at 09:08 or, as I did, at 14:08. Trains are usually formed of a single 1954-built Allan railcar, modernised in 2022. Tickets can be bought online, at the ticket office or on board. Advantage of boarding in Abrantes? Half the passengers from Entrancamento get off here!
Some effort has been made to provide connecting local buses from Abrantes town centre, 3.2 km and 132m ascent away, *into* the trains to Badajoz. These leave Abrantes at 09:08 and 14:08. I chose the latter.
#CrossBorderRail
Abrantes is located on the Beira Baixa line Lisbon - Entrancamento - Castelo Branco - Covilhã - Guarda, which is served daily by three IC train pairs and 4-5 regional train pairs. Crucially, the two daily train pairs on the Linha do Leste Entrancamento - Badajoz also stop here #CrossBorderRail
A new subthread for the second option:
2. Lisbon/Porto to Madrid via Abrantes, Elvas, Badajoz. No rubber tyres involved! This report starts in the pretty hilltop town of Abrantes, where I stayed overnight and spent the morning exploring. #CrossBorderRail
Postscript: would I recommend this route? Well, no, you're better off staying on the coach from Salamanca through to Porto, travelling in greater seat comfort and arriving 3 hrs earlier. To compete, CP needs to run Vilar Formoso - Porto direct with at least IR (Arco stock) comfort. #CrossBorderRail
Here too there is an unadvertised through service Regio + Urbano from Coimbra-B to Porto via Pampilhosa and Aveiro, so it's not as bad as communicated! So there we have it, Vilar Formoso - Porto with one change in five hours, albeit in backside-numbing class 2240 seats. #CrossBorderRail
The Pampilhosa avoider aka 3.2 km long concordância de Mealhada is open to traffic, but as yet sees no passenger trains. So I change in Pampilhosa to continue to Porto. #CrossBorderRail
I could not identify any obvious infrastructure improvements/upgrades on the Beira Alta line to justify the 3 year closure. AFAIK no additional passing loops for more capacity and punctuality. A long ca. 20 km/h speed restriction in Soito/Espinho area delays trains by about 10 mins.
Class 2240s are entirely unsuitable for long journeys, but I would be on this one for > 3 hours. Apart from lack of luggage space, it's impossible to sit comfortably in these seats. The 15:55 from Vilar Formoso to Guarda is actually an unadvertised through service to Coimbra-B. #CrossBorderRail
Note the generous (= costly) infrastructure, which at present only sees two daily passenger train pairs and a smattering of freight. Can we hope there might be more trains in the near future? Passenger trains are entirely in the hands of these class 2240 units #CrossBorderRail
The ticket office is not finished yet (don't worry, tickets are sold on the train), but there are several businesses in the handsome station building in Vilar Formoso, including a bar for drinks and snacks, including snails, should you fancy them. #CrossBorderRail
The border town of Vilar Formoso is rather small, with restaurants, hotels and the railway station all within a few minutes walk of the coach stop. You have more than 2 hours to change from coach to train here. The prettiest building in town is of course the railway station. #CrossBorderRail
Just looked again. As far as I can see, it's just the tunnel directly south of Salamanca La-Alamedilla that is still without knitting. Can anyone confirm?
I would also like to see an IC Vilar Formoso - Guarda - Porto via the new Pampilhosa avoiding curve, which CP has promised to serve but so far hasn't. Don't forget CP is short of rolling stock and surely won't prioritise international routes over domestic ones.
Is it? Last thing I read in the Portuguese press was the idea put forward by CP to join up the Lisboa - Entroncamento - Abrantes - Guarda and Guarda - Pampilhosa - Coimbra-B - Entroncamento - Lisboa IC services.
Wires are up Salamanca - Vilar Formoso. As I did not see any freight from the coach or in the two hours I spent in Vilar Formoso, I cannot speculate as to whether they are in use by electric traction. More pictures and trip report continuation to follow...
Yes, Trutnov in the Czech Republic with a GWTR #CrossBorderRail service to Lubawka and Sędzisław in Poland it most certainly is.
The Portuguese certainly have wish lists but little or no means of realising them without Spanish cooperation
After just 58 mins we are passing Cuidad Rodrigo and rapidly approaching Portugal. Hooray you might think. But no, just 5 mins short of the border we pull off the autovia for lunch at La Pedresina. We finally arrive just a few metres inside the Portuguese border 5 mins early at 13:45