Portugal’s Rail Boom Means Crowded Carriages and New Perks for Expats

Portugal’s railways have rarely been this busy. CP – Comboios de Portugal carried more than 100 million passengers in the first six months of 2025, smashing its own semester record and adding roughly 7 million extra riders in a single year. A bargain-priced €20 Passe Ferroviário Verde is luring thousands out of cars and buses, reopened branch lines are back on the map, and weekend seats on the flagship Alfa Pendular are selling out days in advance. For foreigners living in—or eyeing—a move to Portugal, the surge holds both promise and a few practical headaches.

Why the rail rush matters for newcomers

Car ownership costs in Portugal have spiked on the back of higher tolls and insurance premiums. At the same time, low-fare airlines trimmed domestic frequencies, leaving rail as the most reliable way to hop between Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and the Algarve. The upswing in demand means trains are fuller, but also that the network is receiving unprecedented political attention—and funding. Expats who embraced the habitual car hire for weekend getaways may now find the train a faster, greener and increasingly cost-effective alternative. However, fuller carriages and occasional walk-outs by railway unions add a layer of planning that newcomers should not ignore.

Inside the numbers: a historic semester

CP’s half-year figures paint a striking picture. Regional lines recorded the steepest climb, transporting 133 % more passengers—an additional 15.3 M trips—than in the same stretch of 2024. Urban services in Coimbra ballooned by 84 %, while Intercidades expressed trains posted a 48 % gain. Lisbon’s commuter belt still dominates in absolute terms, clocking about 68 M boardings, and the premium Alfa Pendular maintained market share despite its higher tariffs. In revenue terms, traffic income nudged up to roughly €130 M, a 1.6 % improvement, even after deep discounts from the Green Pass.

Green Rail Pass: the €20 game-changer

Launched quietly in October 2024, the Passe Ferroviário Verde has turned into CP’s runaway hit. By June this year more than 315 000 subscriptions had been snapped up; cumulative sales stand near 390 000. Internal data suggest 81 % of pass holders never held a monthly CP ticket before, proving the initiative is tapping new markets rather than simply cannibalizing existing passes. Intercidades alone logged 1.25 M seat reservations from Green Pass users, many of them leisure travellers who historically relied on coaches. The Portuguese treasury is compensating CP for foregone farebox income—roughly €23.6 M plus VAT for 2024-25—on the promise that wider ridership will rebalance the books over time.

For residents from overseas, the pass is available on presentation of a Portuguese fiscal number (NIF) and an EU-format photo ID. Subscriptions can be purchased at larger stations or online via the CP website. The pass covers almost the entire conventional network, excluding only the Alfa Pendular and a handful of charter services.

Capacity pains: punctuality, strikes and aging rolling stock

Growth has not come without friction. Major track works by public infrastructure manager IP have dented on-time performance, particularly on the Douro, Algarve and Minho corridors. July punctuality on the Braga branch, for instance, slipped below 70 %. Labour relations are equally fraught: a 14-union strike in May shut down most trains for 24 hours, and another stoppage looms in autumn if wage talks stall. Expats accustomed to the Swiss or Japanese rail ethos should keep an eye on CP’s notice page and build slack into travel plans, especially on Fridays and holiday eves.

The fleet is also showing its age. While CP ordered 22 Stadler FLIRT regional units back in 2020, delivery delays mean they will not carry passengers before late 2026. A far larger tender for 117 new trains remains bogged down in court appeals. In the meantime, workshops are working overtime to keep 1970s-era locomotives in daily service—a testament to Portugal’s mechanical ingenuity, but hardly a recipe for flawless reliability.

Reopened lines and new links on the horizon

Not all the news is grim. 2025 saw the return of passenger traffic to the Leixões line north of Porto, a convenient shortcut to beach towns such as Matosinhos. Sections of the scenic Beira Alta and Oeste routes also reopened, shaving minutes off journeys toward Viseu and the Silver Coast. In Lisbon, 304 new ticket machines have shortened queues during rush hour, while CP added extra Alfa Pendular departures on Saturdays and public holidays to cope with football weekends and festival travel.

Looking further ahead, Portugal’s freshly adopted Plano Ferroviário Nacional mandates studies for high-speed rail to Spain and a 75-minute Lisbon-Porto run. Construction timetables remain hazy, yet IP has already started modernizing the Cascais suburban line with digital signalling and a rebuilt catenary.

Practical tips for foreign riders

• Buy long-distance tickets as early as possible; promo fares as low as €8 drop 60 days before travel and sell out fast.• If you hold a Green Pass, you still need seat reservations on Intercidades—book online to avoid the €4 station surcharge.• Keep the CP app on your phone; strike-day timetables are published there first, often in Portuguese only.• For day trips to Évora, Óbidos or the Douro wine villages, regional trains may be slower than buses but reward you with green landscapes unreachable by highway.

The bottom line

Portugal’s railway is in a rare sweet spot: ridership is booming, political leaders are paying attention, and European recovery cash is flowing toward track upgrades. Yet success brings stress, and the next few summers will test whether CP can maintain momentum without derailing punctuality or passenger goodwill. For expatriates seeking a low-carbon way to explore their adopted home, now is the time to climb aboard—just remember to reserve a seat before everyone else does.