Spain is right next door, but since 2020, the distance between Portugal and ‘nuestros hermanos’ has become greater due to the discontinuation of night train services linking the two countries. However, this could change in the first half of 2025.
According to information published by The Portugal News website,a proposal by the Livre party has been approved which aims to re-establish night train connections between Portugal and Spain.
To this end, the governments of both countries are in talks to reactivate the Lusitânia and Sud-Expresso services. The proposal calls for the resumption to be carried out by the railways CP – Comboios de Portugal, E.P.E., and Renfe.
The initiative is part of the “Iberian rail strategy”, integrated into Portugal’s National Rail Plan, as mentioned in the proposal recently approved by the Portuguese Parliament and quoted by The Portugal News.
The ‘decline’ of night trains
Since 2020, due to the pandemic, Lisbon has become the only European capital without any international rail connection, a scenario that has only occurred on three occasions in more than a century: during the war conflicts of the Spanish Civil War and World War I and II.
In the future, it is planned to launch a <shortcode data-tag=”trackLink” 0=”link_url=”https://lisboasecreta.co/comboio-alta-velocidade-lisboa-madrid/”<strong>”>high-speed TGV train that will connect Lisbon to Madrid in just three hours. Until then, we can only wait for news about night trains. Is this it?