Porto Public Transport Shuts Early on Christmas Eve, Restarts at 9AM

Porto residents who are thinking about last-minute shopping runs or that late-night bacalhau delivery will need to set their watches earlier than usual this Christmas. The Metro do Porto is trimming its timetable on Christmas Eve and delaying start-up on Christmas Day, mirroring an approach already familiar to many other European cities.

At a glance

• Service ends around 20:00 on 24 December

• No trains until 09:00 on 25 December (08:30 northbound from Póvoa de Varzim)

• STCP buses and trams also winding down early

• Normal frequencies return on 26 December, with all lines back to weekday rhythm

What exactly changes on 24 and 25 December?

The last departures on all six metro lines are scheduled to roll out between 19:30 and 20:10 on Christmas Eve. Ticket barriers will then stay locked until 09:00 the next morning across the network, a 90-minute later start than a typical Sunday. An exception applies on the coastal stretch to Póvoa de Varzim, where the first train should leave at 08:30 to maintain a connection with early regional buses.

Travellers accustomed to squeezing onto the Yellow Line after midnight should not be caught off guard: there will be no substitute bus service during the overnight pause.

Why the shorter window?

According to Metro do Porto, demand on 24 and 25 December falls to under one-third of an average weekday, freeing space in the schedule to give almost 1,350 frontline employees an evening at home. The company stresses that every driver, controller and cleaner who volunteers for a Christmas shift receives enhanced pay, yet management says "family time remains priceless."Local commuter associations generally agree; informal passenger counts from 2024 show many carriages running nearly empty after 18:00.

Buses and trams: matching the metro’s tempo

Porto’s bus operator STCP will also switch to a Saturday timetable until 18:30 on 24 December, after which frequencies thin out sharply. The city’s two heritage tram routes park even earlier, with the final bell scheduled to ring at 17:30. On Christmas Day, both modes follow a Sunday/holiday schedule, so expect wider gaps, especially on hillside routes 201 and 208.

How does Porto stack up internationally?

The early cut-off might feel abrupt, but it is hardly unusual:

• Madrid Metro shuts just two hours later, at 22:00, and restarts at 08:00.• London Underground ceases most operations by 22:00 and offers no service at all on 25 December.• In contrast, the Paris Métro keeps doors open until roughly 02:15 on Christmas morning.• Berlin’s U-Bahn runs night service year-round, yet still scales back to a Saturday pattern on the 24th.

Viewed against that backdrop, Porto’s approach lands somewhere in the middle—more restrictive than Paris, less so than London, broadly similar to Madrid.

Travel tips for a smoother Christmas ride

• Load your Andante card the day before; ticket offices may close as staff clock off.• If you must travel after 20:00 on 24 December, consider the 12-629 bus corridor from Trindade to Matosinhos, which usually keeps hourly circulation until midnight.• Ride-sharing fares tend to surge; booking early or splitting trips can soften the blow.• Commuters heading to Sá Carneiro Airport should note that the Violet Line shuts at 20:00; the an inexpensive shuttle operated by GetBus will continue until 23:30.

Looking ahead: New Year’s Eve marathon service

While Christmas brings an early good-night, 31 December flips the script. Metro do Porto plans an all-night operation with 10-minute headways on the Blue Line and reinforced Yellow Line capacity until 03:00, ensuring revellers make it home from the Avenida dos Aliados fireworks without scrambling for taxis. The pattern echoes initiatives in Paris, Berlin and parts of London, underscoring a growing European consensus: close early when the city sleeps, but stay open when it celebrates.

For now, however, the advice is simple: on Christmas Eve, catch the train early—or plan on walking off that rabanada.