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- Lisbon
Ferries
- Transtejo
e a Soflusa
-
-
- This is the
header for a series of pages on the Transtejo e a Soflusa ferries
of Lisbon. Each of the sections listed below links to a more detailed page on the
subject (fast
ferries still to be added). There is also a page covering the complete 2008
Transtejo e a Soflusa feet (to be completed)
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- Lisbon has
a superb location on the River Tagus, and there is an intensive
network of ferry services across the river, despite the imposing
Ponte 25 de Abril bridge which links the two sides and
carries both rail and road traffic. Even a car ferry service
has survived the arrival of the bridge, unusual in such circumstances,
and the ferries on this route are of an extremely distinctive
design. Ferries are operated by two companies, the main one being
Transtejo (Transports Tejo SA) who operate from three ferry terminals
on the north bank of the Tagus:- Belem, Cais de Sodré
and Cais da Alfandega. This company was nationalized in 1975
after the revolution, and operates routes to seven terminals
on the south banks with a fleet of around 30 ferries.
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- The second
ferry company is Soflusa (Sociedade Fluvial de Transports S.A.),
which links the railway stations at Estacao do Sul e Sueste (adjacent
to the Transtejo terminal at Cais da Alfandega) to Barreiro,
30 minutes away on the south bank. Trains leave for the south
of the country from this station, although a railway across a
new Tagus bridge may make the route redundant. To confuse matters,
the two newest Transtejo conventional ferries are chartered to
Soflusa, who also have around eight other ferries of their own.
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- More recently,
Transtejo and Soflusa have combined as Transtejo e a Soflusa
(although each retaining slightly different management structures). In 2008, six basic Transtejo e a Soflusa routes
remain, operated by 22 fast catamarans, 2 car ferries and 14
conventional ferries.
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- A beautifully
illustrated book, Cacilheiros, by well known Lisbon photographer
Luis Miguel Correia, gives the history of the Transtejo ferries
(though strangely does not cover the Soflusa ships). The book
is written in both English and Portuguese.
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- Sections
on this Page:-
- Transtejo
Car Ferries
- Transtejo
Passenger Ferries
- Transtejo
Fast Ferries
- Soflusa
Passenger Ferries
- Soflusa
Fast Ferries
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- Other Lisbon Pages:-
- Lisbon
Ferries
- Lisbon Header page - this page!
- Transtejo
e Soflusa
- Lisbon combined ferry fleet in 2008
- Transtejo
Car Ferries
- Transtejo Passenger Ferries
- Soflusa
Ferries
- Metro
Transportes do Sul - new Lisbon tramway south of the Tagus
- Aurora
in Lisbon - 2000 - Photographs of P&O's Aurora
- Grand
Princess in Lisbon - 2000 - Photographs of the P&O/Princess
cruise ship
- Oriana in Lisbon - 2003 - Photographs of P&O's
Oriana
- Costa
Europa in Lisbon - 2008 - Photographs of the Costa Crociere
cruise ship
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- References:-
- Cacilheiros - Luis Miguel Correia
- www.transtejo.pt - Transtejo e a Soflusa official website
- www.luso.u-net.com - Excellent English
language site covering Lisbon's ferries, trains, trams and more
-
- Associated Pages:-
- Portuguese Shipping
- Ferry
Postcards
- Cruise
Ship Postcards
- Ocean
Liner Postcards
- Simplon Postcards Home Page
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-
-
-
- Lisbon
Ferries
- Transtejo
e a Soflusa
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- Transtejo Car Ferries
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- More images of Transtejo Car Ferries
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- I will begin
the pictures with the interesting car ferries which operate the
Cais de Sodré-Cacilhas route, which has survived despite
the building of the River Tagus bridge. These ferries are quite
venerable, the youngest dating from 1958, although they have
all been re-engined at least once over the years. The first picture
below shows the Setubalense, built in 1936, which
is the oldest in the fleet. This picture was taken some years
back by my father, Terry Boyle, and shows the older black funnel
colours. The next three pictures show the Alentejense, one of the newest in
the car ferry fleet, dating from 1957. The design is little changed
from the Setubalense, 20 years its senior.
In 2008, only Alentejense and Eborense remained in service,
now running from Cacilhas to Belem.
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-
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- The last
two car ferry pictures show the Eborense, dating from 1954.
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- Transtejo Passenger Ferries
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- More images of Transtejo Passenger Ferries
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- The main
class of Transtejo ferries is shown below. This is the Cacilhense, name-ship of a class
of eight ships built in between 1982 and 1984, which are around
300grt and carry 500 passengers. The other ships in the class
(all still in service in 2008) are the Campolide, Dafundo, Madragoa, Montes
Claros,
Palmelense, Sintrense and Seixalense. Cacilhense had been withdrawn by
2008.
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-
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- This is the
Madre
de Deus,
a similar
design to those above but featuring a bar and open sided deck
space aft, reducing tonnage to 280 grt. They were all built in
1982, and the sisters are Moscavide, Miratejo and Monsanto. They are known as the Monsanto class. All had been
withdrawn by 2008.
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-
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- Five Elbe
ferries were bought from Hamburg operator HADAG in the 1977.
These were the Castelo (ex-HADAG Lichtwark), Marvila (ex-HADAG Volksdorf),
Mouraria (ex-HADAG Ottensen),
Porto Brandao (ex-HADAG Falkenstein) and Vouga (ex-HADAG Otmarschen). The
vessel below is the S.Paulus, here shown running a river cruise, previously
the similarly named Hamburg ferry St Pauli, ex-Sulldorf
of 1959, renamed in 1978. Marvila, Mouraria, S.Paulus and Trafaria
Praia
remain in service in 2008, mainly on harbour tours.
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-
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- These two
photos are of the Martim Moniz, one of two large ferries
delivered to Transtejo in 1992, the other being the S.Jorge. They are both of 650
grt, and carry 1000 passengers. Both sisters are chartered to
Soflusa, for service to Barreiro.
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- Transtejo Fast Ferries
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- More images of Transtejo Fast Ferries
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- Transtejo
had four fast catamarans built in 1995/6. These were the Alges,
Castelo, Chiado and Bica. The first two were designed
and built by FBM Marine in Cowes, Isle of Wight. Further vessels
to this design were built locally in Portugal. Subsequent fast
ferries have been built in various locations around the world.
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- The vessel
below is the Carnide which can carry 496 passengers and
operate at 20 knots.
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- Soflusa Passenger Ferries
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- More
images of Soflusa Passenger Ferries
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- The railway
companies operated their own service from Estacao do Sul e Sueste
(also known as Terreiro do Paco) to Barreiro. Despite the nationalization
of the private companies to form Transtejo in 1975, the railway
services remained separate, being operated by Soflusa since 1994.
They have a fleet of eight vessels, of which six are of the same
class, including the Alentejo and Trás-os-Montes shown below. These are
of 700 grt and carry 1000 passengers. The other sisters are the
Algarve, Estremadura, Lagos and Minho. they were built between
1961 and 1970. The other two ships are the Tunes and Pinhal
Novo,
which are larger at 893 grt and 1600 passengers. Two chartered
Transtejo ferries, the Martim Moniz and S.Jorge also operate on this
route. These conventional ferries were all withdrawn in the mid-2000s
when the nine new
fast ferries
were delivered.
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- Soflusa Fast Ferries
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- More images of Soflusa Passenger Ferries
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- Damião de Goes was the first of a series
of nine large catamarans built by Damen Shipyards, Singapure
for use by Soflusa on the Barreiro-Terreiro do Paço route.
They were all delivered in 2003/2004 and replaced all the conventional
ferries on the route (Tunes and Pinhal
Novo
surviving longer than the smaller ships for use on peak period
extras). The comlete list is:- Damião de Goes (2003), Augusto
Gil
(2003), Miguel
Torga
(2003), Fernando
Namora
(2003), Gil
Vicente
(2003), Jorge
de Sena
(2003), Almeida
Garrett
(2004), Fernando
Pessoa
(2004) and Antero de Quental (2004).
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-
-
-
- Aurora Cruise to Lisbon - Grand
Princess at Lisbon
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