Lisbon North Line Trains Resume After Floods; Refunds, Upgrade Feedback Open

The Portugal rail operator CP has restored train service on the critical North Line stretch between Castanheira do Ribatejo and Alverca, a move that reconnects Lisbon’s northern suburbs after a six-hour flood-related shutdown.

Why This Matters

• 6 h standstill ended at 11:00 on 5 Feb, averting an all-day commuter nightmare.

• 30,000 daily passengers on the Lisbon–Santarém corridor can again reach the capital without detours.

• Ticket refunds for journeys missed before 11:00 are being accepted through CP’s app and station counters until 15 Feb.

• Public consultation on a long-term four-track upgrade of the same troço runs until 27 Feb—have your say before works begin.

How the Morning Unfolded

At 06:00, station loudspeakers from Alverca to Vila Franca de Xira carried the dreaded announcement: “serviço suspenso”. Torrential rain from the Leonardo cyclone pushed the Tagus’s side channels over the ballast, forcing Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to close both tracks. By 08:00, replacement transport was scarce; the A1 motorway immediately clogged as motorists abandoned the rails. Engineers cleared mud and inspected signalling equipment during the early daylight window, giving CP the green light to roll the first south-bound train shortly after 11:00.

Weather Factor vs. Engineering Works

Flooding was the immediate culprit, but riders were quick to conflate the incident with the planned €450 M quadruplication project between the same two stations. IP stresses the distinction: the upgrade—still in environmental assessment—has not broken ground and therefore played no role in Tuesday’s stoppage. When construction does start, most heavy work will occur 01:00-06:00, yet occasional single-track running and speed limits are inevitable.

What This Means for Residents

Commute times back to normal – Expect the usual 24-minute hop from Castanheira to Lisboa-Santa Apolónia.

Keep an eye on alerts – CP’s push-notification system proved patchy; subscribing to both the app and IP’s Twitter feed gives redundancy.

Claim your money – E-voucher requests for abandoned journeys take less than 3 minutes online; paper tickets must be redeemed at staffed counters.

Property near the line – Temporary noise during forthcoming works could affect rental yields; consult the draft Environmental Impact Statement now online.

Wider Economic Ripple

The North Line is Portugal’s busiest rail artery, carrying 37 % of national passenger traffic and 80 % of freight bound for the Port of Leixões. Even a half-day closure diverts containers to road, adding roughly €90,000 in extra diesel costs, according to the Portugal Logistics Association. Urban planners worry that repeated climate-driven disruptions could erode public confidence just as Lisbon pushes for a 50 % rail modal share by 2030.

Looking Ahead

Meteorologists at IPMA warn that two more Atlantic lows are due next week. Meanwhile, the public consultation on the four-track expansion remains open until 27 Feb. Residents can submit observations via the Participa.pt portal. Final project approval is expected late 2026, with shovels in the ground by early 2027—meaning periodic night-time closures could become the new normal before the decade ends.

For now, the trains are moving, the platforms are full again, and Lisbon’s northern commuters can breathe a (slightly damp) sigh of relief.