It took more than ten years of waiting, hundreds of signatures, and a long battle against a station that was padlocked every Friday night. But the change is finally confirmed: Alcântara-Terra Station will once again have train service on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
The measure was confirmed by the government in response to a parliamentary question from the Livre party , thereby ending a rail isolation that had been affecting western Lisbon since June 2015. Since then, service had been suspended on weekends, cutting off direct access for several neighborhoods to the Cintura Line and the Azambuja Line.
The station’s return
The resumption of the Castanheira do Ribatejo–Alcântara-Terra service on non-weekdays will begin on December 13, 2026, a date that coincides with the entry into effect of the new annual schedule for CP – Comboios de Portugal.
Until then, the lack of trains continues to penalize residents and workers in Alcântara, Estrela, and Ajuda, as the prolonged closure affects those who rely on public transportation to work weekend shifts, visit family, or simply enjoy leisure time in other parts of the city.
The end of the “blame game”
In an area that still lacks a metro line (some images of the future station), and at a time when Lisbon is committed to greater sustainable mobility and less car traffic, residents have never been able to understand the reasons for this closure.
The train is an essential means of transportation for those living in this part of the city, not to mention the strong residential growth along Avenida de Ceuta and Rua Maria Pia, as confirmed by the Associação Vizinhos em Lisboa, which has consistently called on CP and Infraestruturas de Portugal to urgently resume the service.
With the growth of tourism and local commerce, keeping an urban station closed 104 days a year is a luxury that the capital’s transportation system cannot afford; this reopening is not merely a convenience—it will be the missing link connecting the western part of the city to the national rail network every day of the week.
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