I am a Portuguese from Lisbon, who worked ~15 years in Porto. I used AlfaPendular and Intercidades almost every weekend. These trains have a special place in my heart.
@giveme5mins If you are coming from the airport there is metro that takes less than 5 minutes to Lisboa-Oriente, were you can get both the train to Porto or Faro, in each end of Portugal.
@@giveme5minsnot too far you only need to get the metro to sao sebastiao and then go to the blue line to santa apolonia and it will take up to 20 mins or less
We will travel from Porto to Lisbon on 28/12, may I know what is the best website or the official website I can use to buy the train tickets? Also I understand there are 2 stations in Lisbon, may I know which one is close to the city centre? Thanks.
Besides Portugal having only 10 million inhabitants, they actually managed to build up an efficient, integrated and cheap service. Thats what I call good management.
@@j5igual38 Que Portugal esté rodeada por un Estado más poderoso económicamente no significa que sea un país pobre. Por su PIB y gracias a los fondos FEDER, podrían construir un tren de alta velocidad; si no lo hacen, es porque prefieren invertir en la red convencional.
Before COVID there was catering service on the seat and I think that it has resumed. At least last time I travelled in Alfa pendular there was a lady with a car just like an airplane. I also think that the bar has headphones to offer and yes usually you can pay by card. And btw Vouga line is now being fully renovated :)
Correct, this is May 2021. It's good to hear that the Vouga line is getting an upgrade, though. Is that for the entire route, including the central section?
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@@SuperalbsTravels yes! Deep renovation that includes tracks, its bedding and the automatization of all remaining level crossings. Unfortunately it does not include the electrification of the line. The material that runs there now (the diesel units) were factory ready to be converted to electric traction in the future. Since that will definitely not happen, it has been made public that CP wants to run those same trains on hydrogen if the trials show that it's feasible.
É uma pena que atualmente estejamos a comprar composições em segunda mão à Renfe e que as composições do Metro de Lisboa sejam produzidas em Espanha, também... A nossa indústria desapareceu.
@@miguelsequeira9240 Essa e tantas outras. E depois, queremos a economia a crescer. Todavia, há que ter em consideração que Bruxelas restringe a nossa ação, nesse campo.
Very insightful, out of London we used to fly down the west coastline of Portugal to Lisbon, and noted that the Atlantic breeze always kept the cloud away from the coast for about the 1st mile or so inland, and then the cloud built up and there was pretty solid cloud cover over most of the rest of the country. A beautiful helpful little video thank you very much for posting.
Leather seats, packed with features, great modern interior design, a full on bar, and the highest quality train offered by CP, I love it. Also your channel is super underrated and the highest quality channel about travelling on trains that I've seen so far. Thank you for the video, Boa Noite from Portugal. 🇵🇹
Yes and its guaranteed that when you sample the delights of the bar, you puke the lot up, when you step off this tilting nightmare onto Terra Firma at your hoped for destination !!!!
@@encryptedaviation1452 NONE, its as simple as that. Portugal is 3rd World and takes what is on offer. Like Spain, there are NO Colleges or Universities that offer Railway Engineering degree courses. So like Spain their railway & its rolling stock are effectively controlled from Brussels under the EU open Contract system. If you haven't noticed there are almost NO "Railway Companies" left in the World outside Japan. This is where the Railway Company runs, owns & controls its track, trains, stations, timetabled services, designs and builds its own trains, and basically owns everything within its boundary fence, and plans its future. Hence railways are on a downward spiral in virtually every department, and costs are skyrocketing. Because the whole business of "railway" has been devolved to outside industry. So many railway skills have also been lost, and Greed is now taking even the place of safety !!! As the worlds population continues to balloon, this works both ways for railways. More ticket sales potentially but quality has to make way for Cattle Truck methods. Hence modern trains may look glamourous to members of the public, who are totally unaware of what a "Railway Company" can achieve. The only modern example is Japan, where Railway Company designed trains even have onboard Museums, and a thousand other mindboggling "extras" the rest of the World is in total ignorance of !!!!
In 2018 I've took this service from Porto to Fatima with conection in Cimbra station and I've enjoyed a ull lunch meal service at my individual seat , consisting of pouched king salmon and steam vegetables pair it with a young vinho verde, cheesses asnd breads as appetazer and bolinho de natal and espresso coffe for dessert and a shoot of orujo !!! It was a fantastic trip and service excelently PORTUGUES !!! Greating from San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
This is one of the best trains I've ever seen. Three hour journey for on $41? What a bargain, not to mention how luxurious. You are absolutely right about the passenger cars in the beginning looking very American. Nearly all postwar passenger cars were built with fluted stainless steel. Easier and cheaper to maintain.
One of the added features of stainless steel clad trains is the fact that paint doesn't stick to stainless steel. If the train does get "tagged" a quick run through a high pressure washer and all that "artwork" just washes right off. I believe CP and SJ are the biggest operators of stainless steel clad trains in Europe.
They are wanting to build a TGV train in Portugal. But it's not necessary, since these are cheaper, and can run on normal lines due to the tilting feature, only needing specific line features like straight lines. The Alfa is a great train for the longest runs in the country, being Faro-Lisbon-Coimbra-Porto-Braga. The lines going to the interior are served by normal trains which are slower. Even 2nd class in the Alfa is super comfy, and also has the laptop trays. I rode it several times when I was studying in Lisbon. I'd go to Régua, take the regional train, then take the Alfa to Lisbon, and then the Fertagus to Pragal. Much more comfortable than riding a bus.
Oh quick observation: the WiFi name makes a lot of sense if you speak Portuguese. CP IAB, the CP part obviously stands for the railway company's initials, and IAB is for "Internet A Bordo", or "On-Board Internet".
@@SuperalbsTravels : I didn’t tell you to learn them all. I just suggested that they learned Portuguese! Anglo countries refuse to add foreign languages to their transportation system so they should not expect/demand that Portugal 🇵🇹 added English to their transportation system. If they can’t and/or don’t want to learn Portuguese…it’s their loss. Good luck my friend.
The Alfa Pendular, the Intercity trains and the Porto Urban trains in Portugal are quite good for travels near to the coast. However, Portugal's railway network really breaks down in terms of offers and efficiency when it comes to travelling to the interior of the country and Spain, with international service specially being very lacking and very expensive.
Name one European country where cross-border traffic is efficient and inexpensive... OK, it could well be that things are different elsewhere, but if I look at my native Netherlands, international connections (with the exception of the line to Brussels) are a joke.
This Alfa looks great but it does seem the train from Madrid to Porto is lacking. From the US we are going to Madrid wanting to finish with two weeks in Portugal but it looks like it might be better to fly than use rail.
@@DSC800 Cross-border train travel within Europe is still a bit hit-and-miss. It can work great, but many state railways are still more concerned about their own vested interests than those of the traveller.
I am portuguese, living in England and did not know about this trip. Its fabulous snd i will definitely give that a go in the near future. Thank you very much for your great video and information. Extremely useful!
It's many years since I travelled this route on one of these trains, but you have certainly brought out the positives of the refurbishment and brought back good memories. I think the 'funky' blue light in the toilets is possibly an anti-drug taking measure, but let's not spoil the atmosphere. 😄 Another excellent production and as good as many a professional travel doc made for promotional purposes.
as a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker (who also speaks Dutch, French & Italian) I was amazed by how well you pronounced the Portuguese words. You always nail pronunciations… oh and ofc, great review as always!!
It's an excellent way to travel between the two cities, and for anyone over 65, there is a discount of 50%. Even the slightly slower Intercidades is a great train experience.
If you buy tickets a far in advance then there is even more discount (promo ticket) regardless of your age. For example; you pay €11,50 instead of €31,90
First 😜 This Superalbs dude sure knows how to make a train review video! The perfect amount of maps (1) and excellently spoken English, well done bro 👏🤩🇵🇹
A very good video - a much nicer livery and interior than most UK trains nowadays. The Lisbon station is no longer painted the pretty pale blue, but a deep red.
Santa Apolónia has sort of been refurbished recently because of a hotel that is occupying a large section of the entire structure, they even repainted and now, instead of blue, the building is painted red.
If you buy tickets far in advance at the website then there is even more discount (promo ticket) regardless of your age. For example; you pay €11,50-€19,50 instead of €31,90 for second class. First is €27 instead of €44,60
Although not having ridden on it I think the Portuguese version of this train is alot smarter than the Trenitalia Frecciargento version which I have ridden on albeit a few years ago. Superb video as always . 👌
We can thank Alma Design, the studio of a teacher of mine, for the smart redesign. Originally, they looked a bit dated even back when they were brand new, with a weird blue and red livery and a rather boring white interior with blue seating upholstery.
A few years ago I travelled from Braga to Lisbon and back in a day. On the way down south I took the 'normal' train and it nearly shook the teeth out of my head. On the way back, the Pendular was smooth as silk. Only a few euros difference in price and completely worth it.
I'm so glad I found this video. We are traveling to Portugal in October and I was thinking that we would stay in Lisbon about four days and then rent a car to drive to Porto. But this would be so much more convenient and probably much cheaper.
By the way the speed limit of this train in Portugal is set for 220 KM/h but I had the chance once that the Alfa Pendular train coming from Porto/Faro was delayed in Lisboa Oriente ca. 11 Minutes and arrived at time in Faro. To do so, in the Portuguese South line for some portions of the renovated track (i believe near by Sines region) the train was rolling between 232/241 KM/h during about 10-15 minutes. At least was what the screen was showing. Honestly I do not think Portugal needs High Speed Trains, it needs to renovate the tracks and if possible make an good International connection to Madrid, which is being build via Badajoz (Spain) with the train track to be set at 250KM/h.
I really enjoyed the Alfa Pendular when i tried it, like 20 years ago, and although the service was good and the ticket price was not anything to complain about, it really didn't had a better cost/benefit than Intercidades for the service it provided.
We'll be in Portugal late this summer and plan to take the train from Lisbon to Porto during the trip. This vide was SO helpful and informative. Obrigado!
Thanks to visit my country, and like the Alfa pendular. The trains you see in Santa Apolónia, is a Portuguese construction, in the 70, under license. In the 90's they are refinish. That factory, don't exist any more (is name Sorefame) and is location is in Lisbon area. Today is a glass (bottles) factory. In the entroncamento station you see a green train, is a diesel automotora Allam. Very used in the no electric line's..
That bottle of chocky milk you drank takes me to my youth, as we were served one of those (together with a ham or cheese sandwich) during one of our breaks in my primary school, back then when I was 7 or 8 y.o. and now I'm 59. Oh the memories and the taste of it! 😊
We will be arriving into Lisbon in April 2024 on a transatlantic cruise from San Juan, PR. My plan is to take the train to Porto to join a 10-day tour of Portugal. It was nice to see what you though of the AP train.
I have boarded the AP train from Coimbra to Lisboa and back. It was overall a pleasant experience. I wish that there will be an AP train servicing Badajoz in Spain to Lisbon Portugal in the future. :) well made video.
Be sure to check out "Linha de Cascais" between Lisbon from Cais do Sodre to Cascais stations and "Linha de Sintra" from Lisbon's Rossio station to Sintra station. Then visit the Palace in Sintra and Castelo dos Mouros. Also, at around 3:33 I think some of those *may* have been built by Bombardier Canada (thus the North Americal style) and were used in the "Linha de Cascais". I could be wrong, lol.
Usually pensioners get a 50% discount on the ticket prices when you produce your passport at the ticket office. Not sure if it’s so on this train. I live in Figueiró Dos Vinhos and catch the ordinary train from Pombal to Lisbon Oriente ticket cost €10:50 first class. Compared to the UK Portugal trains are superb and very reasonable.
I travelled with the Alfa Pendular Porto to Lisboa in comfort class. I didn't like the seats not so good comfort. I also dont like leather seats. The Swedish X2000 has superior seats, especially after the latest upgrade. Also the train travelled quite slowly on long parts of the journey, probably due not so good tracks. What is nice is that seats are synchronised with the windows so you can have a good view. Beside the seats it was a good journey. I like the catering service at the seat.
Portugal is on my bucket list. Not because of the weather (I actually live farther south and still in Europe), but because it strikes me as an interesting country. Once a world power, then a poor peripheral area of Europe, but the impression they give is that they have an idea of what they're doing. And not just when playing football. 🙂 But when you look at my native Netherlands -not exactly a poor country- and see trains that are basically glorified metros, overcrowded, understaffed, and expensive to boot - yeah, maybe it wouldn't hurt to look abroad and see what's possible.
I’ve heard a lot about Porto and even talking with Portuguese people they said to me forget about the algarve and Lisbon and visit Porto so for roughly 4 years it’s managed to get onto my bucket list, lovely post
Thank you for the excellent video. It had everything I could ask for in a train service review. I am not a train aficionado, but I can easily see the identical interior features of these trains to the Acela (Amtrak in US) trains, even down to the foot rest. This journey is very similar to the Acela service between Washington DC and New York, but at only 10% to 15% of the price. One way Acela is between $200 to $400 (sometimes over $500)!
Thankyou for introducing Aolonio railway station. Introducing of enjoyfull and comfortable journey on the train in good fecilitys. I am an Indian is appreciting to your Portuguese railway zone. Greate 👍👍👍👍
I have travelled in IC second class from Porto Campahna to Lisbon Santa Apollonia, great travel a week ago. Beautiful Cities, people wery warm and smart. A Great Country Portugal
It's interesting - and a bit sad - that they still didn't have on seat service… IIRC, the last time I made a trip on the AP, I had a meal bought in advance and served on my seat, but that was before the pandemic. It was much better than anything you get on a flight, if a bit on the expensive side.
For those who are saying that Portugal don't need high speed, or why i'm 100% in favor: 1) Distance by train between the 2 major cities is more than 330 km's 2) Travel takes 3 hours, like in 1977 3) Alfa service was introduced in 1999, and in the last 20 some years, works done on the main line only shortened time travel in 30 minutes 4) Some Northern lines and Lisbon train lines are already full, so they're less competitive since they cannot increase services anymore. Lisbon-Porto line is currently full 5) It's projected that in 10 years travel demand between the 2 cities will more than duplicate 6) It allows a major CO2 cut, in line with EU's green policy, by creating a 75 minutes direct scheduled travel that will make the current Lisbon-Porto air line service obsolete 7) It will allow direct connection with two fast train corridors to the east with Spain, and a much faster connection with Vigo 8) It will release faster trains and lines for other services. Don't mind English mistakes 😉
I'm from Porto and I've traveled only once in the alpha! It's too expensive. I normally go on the IC (inter cidades) which is cheaper and also very comfortable! It takes only 30m more! They recently refurbished the old's CP2600 series... they are just beautiful; actually my favorite ones! The most comfortable train is, in my opinion, the cp2600 with the Schindler passenger wagons. They are old but very spacy and silent... and we can ride with the windows and doors opened or seated on the door's steps, taking the wind in the heat of the summer... maybe not today but I did that almost every week in the 90's when I use the train to go to school.... good old memories! You need to try that from Porto to Viana!
The older carriages at the beginning look French to me, rather than American! When I lived in France in the early 1970s, corrugated side carriages were normal on their commuter trains. Incidentally, I believe the blue light in the loos is probably to discourage people from using drugs in there - that's what it does in some areas, anyway. Good video, although I'd have liked to have seen more of the standard class. Thank you.
These coaches were built by the Portuguese manufacturer SOREAME under Alstom licence ( Budd licence for the use of their stainless technique ) so yeah they’re based on the Corail
Firtsly I would you congratulate for the video, and secondly about the carriages and EMUs in 3´30", yes, the main local manufacturer SOREFAME, now defunct, had the Budd lisence to build inox carruages in Europe in the 1940´s. Lot of inox cars were built and exported from Portugal worldwide, including the US. The cars appearing in 3´30" are Corail cars built by Sorefame in Portugal in 1985. Obrigado e parabéns ;)
@@SuperalbsTravels Sorry for my delay answering. These cars are Corail inox built by Sorefame in 1985/86. Firstly top speed 160km/h, now at 200km/h. Instead the other Sorefame carruages these Corail cars never go abroad. So, from 1981 to 1983 SNCF rented some Corail coaches to Renfe
I travelled via the same train last week from Lisboa Oriente to Porto camapanha; not the first class tho, but even that was superb! It started a bit late but we arrived the destination as per the scheduled time.
I'm from the US. The premier train in the US is a lot more expensive than Portugal's. I would like to visit Portugal in the future because this definitely is a great experience and comfortable for the premier train.
3:41 they look very american because of the stainless steel body patent that Sorefame used under license from the US' Budd Company. The coaches at 3:27 are the portuguese version of Corail, also built by Sorefame. 6:20 the at seat service existed until the pandemic I think.
Exactly. What's more ironic is that Sorefame actually supplied the body frame of some subway cars in Chicago, NYC, and Philly. The ones supplied to Philly were after Budd (which was from Philly) had gone out of business.
Nice video, it's really good to travel by train. Thought I never took first class in Alfa or Intercity both are very good to travel. You caught me by surprise when you said Tagus instead of Tejo, for me Tagus is a beer or a company Taguspark (science) never I thought it refers to river Tejo. I thought that you got it wrong, but then I looked up on the Aguas of Portugal site I saw here is a translation for example: "Despoluição do Estuário do Tejo" - "Tagus Clean-up Project". I can never agree with it! Same with Porto - Oporto; and Fernão de Magalhães - Ferdinand Magellan
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
I am a Portuguese from Lisbon, who worked ~15 years in Porto. I used AlfaPendular and Intercidades almost every weekend. These trains have a special place in my heart.
Awesome! You are very lucky to be able to ride these so much. :)
@giveme5mins If you are coming from the airport there is metro that takes less than 5 minutes to Lisboa-Oriente, were you can get both the train to Porto or Faro, in each end of Portugal.
can you compare 1st and 2nd class? I did not see it in a video.
@@giveme5minsnot too far you only need to get the metro to sao sebastiao and then go to the blue line to santa apolonia and it will take up to 20 mins or less
We will travel from Porto to Lisbon on 28/12, may I know what is the best website or the official website I can use to buy the train tickets? Also I understand there are 2 stations in Lisbon, may I know which one is close to the city centre? Thanks.
Besides Portugal having only 10 million inhabitants, they actually managed to build up an efficient, integrated and cheap service. Thats what I call good management.
Sólo los países más pobres de Europa no tienen trenes de alta velocidad, debido a su alto coste
@@j5igual38 of course...Sweden, Norway, Denmark, etc are poor 🤦♂️
@@j5igual38 Most Scandinavian countries also don't have high speed trains, so what's your point?
@@j5igual38 Que Portugal esté rodeada por un Estado más poderoso económicamente no significa que sea un país pobre. Por su PIB y gracias a los fondos FEDER, podrían construir un tren de alta velocidad; si no lo hacen, es porque prefieren invertir en la red convencional.
I find it so bad
It takes 9-10 hours to Madrid.
Before COVID there was catering service on the seat and I think that it has resumed. At least last time I travelled in Alfa pendular there was a lady with a car just like an airplane. I also think that the bar has headphones to offer and yes usually you can pay by card.
And btw Vouga line is now being fully renovated :)
If I'm not mistaking, this footage is from May/June 2021, so yeah, some things changed.
Correct, this is May 2021.
It's good to hear that the Vouga line is getting an upgrade, though. Is that for the entire route, including the central section?
@@SuperalbsTravels yes! Deep renovation that includes tracks, its bedding and the automatization of all remaining level crossings. Unfortunately it does not include the electrification of the line. The material that runs there now (the diesel units) were factory ready to be converted to electric traction in the future. Since that will definitely not happen, it has been made public that CP wants to run those same trains on hydrogen if the trials show that it's feasible.
@ Ah yeah. Think I read about that! Haven't they renovated some heritage traction too?
@@SuperalbsTravels the most recent is a 9000 series diesel loco that is being restored to be used there. Probably with the heritage train
Portugal was a big supplier of trains to the US, that's why we have similar trains, they were made at SOREFAME in the city of Amadora
oh wow. I didn't know that, I thought was the other way around. thanks for valuable comment !
Chicago trains were a big buyer of these portuguese trains
É uma pena que atualmente estejamos a comprar composições em segunda mão à Renfe e que as composições do Metro de Lisboa sejam produzidas em Espanha, também... A nossa indústria desapareceu.
It's a shame we closed that train carriage factory
@@miguelsequeira9240 Essa e tantas outras. E depois, queremos a economia a crescer. Todavia, há que ter em consideração que Bruxelas restringe a nossa ação, nesse campo.
Very insightful, out of London we used to fly down the west coastline of Portugal to Lisbon, and noted that the Atlantic breeze always kept the cloud away from the coast for about the 1st mile or so inland, and then the cloud built up and there was pretty solid cloud cover over most of the rest of the country. A beautiful helpful little video thank you very much for posting.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
I got to ride the Alpha Pendular recently in August, 2022. From Lisbon to Porto. What a thrill!!! Doing it again from Porto to Braga in April, 2023.
What I like more is the sense of peace you feel inside the train, is super relaxing, cosy.
Leather seats, packed with features, great modern interior design, a full on bar, and the highest quality train offered by CP, I love it. Also your channel is super underrated and the highest quality channel about travelling on trains that I've seen so far. Thank you for the video, Boa Noite from Portugal. 🇵🇹
Yes and its guaranteed that when you sample the delights of the bar, you puke the lot up, when you step off this tilting nightmare onto Terra Firma at your hoped for destination !!!!
@@railwaymechanicalengineer4587 which train ride in Portugal has better conditions though
@@encryptedaviation1452 NONE, its as simple as that. Portugal is 3rd World and takes what is on offer. Like Spain, there are NO Colleges or Universities that offer Railway Engineering degree courses. So like Spain their railway & its rolling stock are effectively controlled from Brussels under the EU open Contract system.
If you haven't noticed there are almost NO "Railway Companies" left in the World outside Japan. This is where the Railway Company runs, owns & controls its track, trains, stations, timetabled services, designs and builds its own trains, and basically owns everything within its boundary fence, and plans its future. Hence railways are on a downward spiral in virtually every department, and costs are skyrocketing. Because the whole business of "railway" has been devolved to outside industry. So many railway skills have also been lost, and Greed is now taking even the place of safety !!!
As the worlds population continues to balloon, this works both ways for railways. More ticket sales potentially but quality has to make way for Cattle Truck methods. Hence modern trains may look glamourous to members of the public, who are totally unaware of what a "Railway Company" can achieve. The only modern example is Japan, where Railway Company designed trains even have onboard Museums, and a thousand other mindboggling "extras" the rest of the World is in total ignorance of !!!!
@@railwaymechanicalengineer4587 you are or Angolan, Moroccan, Brazilian.
@@railwaymechanicalengineer4587 also here is a damn nuclear bomb so you can eradicate Portugal forever.
In 2018 I've took this service from Porto to Fatima with conection in Cimbra station and I've enjoyed a ull lunch meal service at my individual seat , consisting of pouched king salmon and steam vegetables pair it with a young vinho verde, cheesses asnd breads as appetazer and bolinho de natal and espresso coffe for dessert and a shoot of orujo !!! It was a fantastic trip and service excelently PORTUGUES !!! Greating from San Francisco, California, U.S.A.
Thanks! I'll have to go back and try the meal service one day.
do you mean coimbra becus i never heard of a city called cimbra
This is one of the best trains I've ever seen. Three hour journey for on $41? What a bargain, not to mention how luxurious.
You are absolutely right about the passenger cars in the beginning looking very American. Nearly all postwar passenger cars were built with fluted stainless steel. Easier and cheaper to maintain.
And the builder of these yellow trains, Sorefame, actually exported some units to the US, for example in the Chicago Metro
You can actually get it for much cheaper if you buy in advance
I've already use this service 3 or 4 times in my country , I like it.
It was indeed some fantastic value!
One of the added features of stainless steel clad trains is the fact that paint doesn't stick to stainless steel. If the train does get "tagged" a quick run through a high pressure washer and all that "artwork" just washes right off. I believe CP and SJ are the biggest operators of stainless steel clad trains in Europe.
They are wanting to build a TGV train in Portugal. But it's not necessary, since these are cheaper, and can run on normal lines due to the tilting feature, only needing specific line features like straight lines. The Alfa is a great train for the longest runs in the country, being Faro-Lisbon-Coimbra-Porto-Braga. The lines going to the interior are served by normal trains which are slower. Even 2nd class in the Alfa is super comfy, and also has the laptop trays. I rode it several times when I was studying in Lisbon. I'd go to Régua, take the regional train, then take the Alfa to Lisbon, and then the Fertagus to Pragal. Much more comfortable than riding a bus.
Oh quick observation: the WiFi name makes a lot of sense if you speak Portuguese.
CP IAB, the CP part obviously stands for the railway company's initials, and IAB is for "Internet A Bordo", or "On-Board Internet".
Ahhh, I thought it was the carriage type or something. 😅
@@SuperalbsTravels the number may have something to do with it, at least at the InterCity services, not sure how it works in the Alfa's case.
Well! If you don’t speak Portuguese, LEARN IT! as I've done with English, Spanish, French & Italian.
@@lecirdaluz I've been to 39 countries, which speak a total of ~30 languages. I can't learn all of them! 😅
@@SuperalbsTravels : I didn’t tell you to learn them all. I just suggested that they learned Portuguese! Anglo countries refuse to add foreign languages to their transportation system so they should not expect/demand that Portugal 🇵🇹 added English to their transportation system. If they can’t and/or don’t want to learn Portuguese…it’s their loss. Good luck my friend.
Adoro viajar no comboio Alfa . Viajei muitos vezes. Confortável, rápido , adorável. 👍👍👍🇵🇹🚄
The Alfa Pendular, the Intercity trains and the Porto Urban trains in Portugal are quite good for travels near to the coast.
However, Portugal's railway network really breaks down in terms of offers and efficiency when it comes to travelling to the interior of the country and Spain, with international service specially being very lacking and very expensive.
It'd be stupid to spend money on railways no on uses.
@@jeanlundi2141 No one uses because our goverment fails to invest in the interior, which they should, starting with transportation.
Name one European country where cross-border traffic is efficient and inexpensive... OK, it could well be that things are different elsewhere, but if I look at my native Netherlands, international connections (with the exception of the line to Brussels) are a joke.
This Alfa looks great but it does seem the train from Madrid to Porto is lacking. From the US we are going to Madrid wanting to finish with two weeks in Portugal but it looks like it might be better to fly than use rail.
@@DSC800 Cross-border train travel within Europe is still a bit hit-and-miss. It can work great, but many state railways are still more concerned about their own vested interests than those of the traveller.
I am portuguese, living in England and did not know about this trip. Its fabulous snd i will definitely give that a go in the near future. Thank you very much for your great video and information. Extremely useful!
Thank you very much! 😎
It's many years since I travelled this route on one of these trains, but you have certainly brought out the positives of the refurbishment and brought back good memories. I think the 'funky' blue light in the toilets is possibly an anti-drug taking measure, but let's not spoil the atmosphere. 😄 Another excellent production and as good as many a professional travel doc made for promotional purposes.
Yeah, I was going to mention that, but funky and groovy is a lot more positive.
Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for the kind words. 🙏😁
as a native Brazilian Portuguese speaker (who also speaks Dutch, French & Italian) I was amazed by how well you pronounced the Portuguese words. You always nail pronunciations… oh and ofc, great review as always!!
Thank you so much! 😁
love Portugal, Great country Great people
Agree!
Thank you
I agree with you 100%…I have many happy memories there with Special people and dear friends!
It's an excellent way to travel between the two cities, and for anyone over 65, there is a discount of 50%. Even the slightly slower Intercidades is a great train experience.
Only issue with the IC is the propensity for delays.
If you buy tickets a far in advance then there is even more discount (promo ticket) regardless of your age. For example; you pay €11,50 instead of €31,90
How many hours is ???
@@dimtsig8368 Lisboa Santa Apolonia - Porto Campanha 02h58
And Lisboa Oriënte - Porto Campanha 02h49
@@stefaniebakker5642 thanks for your answer I am thinking in the return of Porto too do a stop to aviero for 1-2 hours it’s ok???
Best destination for traveling in Europe, cheap and affordable for all kinds of international traveller
The train is just great, clean and spacious. I love it. The stations could use some extra care, but it's great that this train can run at that speed.
First 😜 This Superalbs dude sure knows how to make a train review video! The perfect amount of maps (1) and excellently spoken English, well done bro 👏🤩🇵🇹
What's coming up this week on your channel?
@@heidirabenau511 No video this week I'm afraid! 😭
@@NonstopEurotrip 😭
Thank you as always! 😉
Mano? É irmão de quem? Ou é um brasileiro burro?
A very good video - a much nicer livery and interior than most UK trains nowadays. The Lisbon station is no longer painted the pretty pale blue, but a deep red.
Correct. If I'm not mistaking, the footage is at least 10 months old.
Interesting, I'll have to pay another visit, that sounds beautiful! 😍
@@margaridavale7834 Sure, but it looked prettier in blue.
@@motttta it most definitely did not look prettier in that horrible pale blue...
Missed the train station in Porto! It’s beautiful 😍
Agree. Excellent service. I have used it 3 times in last 9 months. Good deals by booking in advance, plus I get a seniors discount.
Bargain!
Where can I book tickets if I’m trying to book from USA? Read online that rail ninja is a scam and over charges.
That is a very smart train and a fabulously relaxing but engaging video from Superalbs. Thank you for another inspiring video!
Thanks a lot, glad you enjoyed it! :)
The seat service is fully operating. I travelled on this train last week.
That's great to hear! Thanks for the update. :)
Excellent video, the train and the trip look great. ❤Portugal
Thanks!
Im Portuguese , and to be honest , u gave me info , that i really dont know , before .
Great Video !
Wow, that's good to hear! Thanks. :)
Santa Apolónia has sort of been refurbished recently because of a hotel that is occupying a large section of the entire structure, they even repainted and now, instead of blue, the building is painted red.
Excellent video again from Superalbs. I have never been to Portugal it looks great, certainly makes me want to visit soon.
Thanks very much. :)
If you buy tickets far in advance at the website then there is even more discount (promo ticket) regardless of your age. For example; you pay €11,50-€19,50 instead of €31,90 for second class. First is €27 instead of €44,60
That's a great deal!
Although not having ridden on it I think the Portuguese version of this train is alot smarter than the Trenitalia Frecciargento version which I have ridden on albeit a few years ago. Superb video as always . 👌
We can thank Alma Design, the studio of a teacher of mine, for the smart redesign. Originally, they looked a bit dated even back when they were brand new, with a weird blue and red livery and a rather boring white interior with blue seating upholstery.
I agree! The Trenitalia ones are very tired out, so the refurbishment here in Portugal is much appreciated.
Thanks this will be part of my trip from Mexilhoeira Grande Algarve to Poole Dorset
A few years ago I travelled from Braga to Lisbon and back in a day. On the way down south I took the 'normal' train and it nearly shook the teeth out of my head. On the way back, the Pendular was smooth as silk. Only a few euros difference in price and completely worth it.
That track is the rail equivalent of a mountain single track. The pendular can only achieve max speed of 220kmh in a short stretch.
Love Portugal, haven't visited for a long while. Would love to go back. Lovely country and people ❤
Portugal should start metro rail service like this and connect each province and small places with each other.....best wishes
That would be wonderful. now... back to the real world...
Beautiful countryside. Excellent features inside the train.
thanks
Gorgeous-looking train!
Plugs go into sockets. Power socket!
Thanks for the tip!
I'm so glad I found this video. We are traveling to Portugal in October and I was thinking that we would stay in Lisbon about four days and then rent a car to drive to Porto. But this would be so much more convenient and probably much cheaper.
Fiz esse percurso Estação Santa Apolónia a Estação Campanhã por comboio. É uma excelente viagem
Thanks for this relaxing and pleasant journey !
No problem, glad you enjoyed it. :)
I have been looking for videos with the luggage info. Thank you so much for being so detailed!!!
The quality of the premium train is very impressive for me. I love it.❤😀👍👍
It's nice isn't it! :)
@@SuperalbsTravels Yaeh!🙏🙌🙌🙏
By the way the speed limit of this train in Portugal is set for 220 KM/h but I had the chance once that the Alfa Pendular train coming from Porto/Faro was delayed in Lisboa Oriente ca. 11 Minutes and arrived at time in Faro. To do so, in the Portuguese South line for some portions of the renovated track (i believe near by Sines region) the train was rolling between 232/241 KM/h during about 10-15 minutes. At least was what the screen was showing. Honestly I do not think Portugal needs High Speed Trains, it needs to renovate the tracks and if possible make an good International connection to Madrid, which is being build via Badajoz (Spain) with the train track to be set at 250KM/h.
I really enjoyed the Alfa Pendular when i tried it, like 20 years ago, and although the service was good and the ticket price was not anything to complain about, it really didn't had a better cost/benefit than Intercidades for the service it provided.
old french corail trains; they used it for the TEE trains from Amsterdam towards Paris (when I was very young...). besides, nice video!
We'll be in Portugal late this summer and plan to take the train from Lisbon to Porto during the trip. This vide was SO helpful and informative. Obrigado!
Obrigado! Glad this was of use to you, and enjoy your trip!
Thanks to visit my country, and like the Alfa pendular.
The trains you see in Santa Apolónia, is a Portuguese construction, in the 70, under license.
In the 90's they are refinish.
That factory, don't exist any more (is name Sorefame) and is location is in Lisbon area.
Today is a glass (bottles) factory.
In the entroncamento station you see a green train, is a diesel automotora Allam.
Very used in the no electric line's..
The Station Lisboa- Oriente is Gorgeous, a Masterpiece of Architecture.
That bottle of chocky milk you drank takes me to my youth, as we were served one of those (together with a ham or cheese sandwich) during one of our breaks in my primary school, back then when I was 7 or 8 y.o. and now I'm 59. Oh the memories and the taste of it! 😊
We will be arriving into Lisbon in April 2024 on a transatlantic cruise from San Juan, PR. My plan is to take the train to Porto to join a 10-day tour of Portugal. It was nice to see what you though of the AP train.
I have boarded the AP train from Coimbra to Lisboa and back. It was overall a pleasant experience. I wish that there will be an AP train servicing Badajoz in Spain to Lisbon Portugal in the future. :) well made video.
Thank you very much! :)
Be sure to check out "Linha de Cascais" between Lisbon from Cais do Sodre to Cascais stations and "Linha de Sintra" from Lisbon's Rossio station to Sintra station. Then visit the Palace in Sintra and Castelo dos Mouros. Also, at around 3:33 I think some of those *may* have been built by Bombardier Canada (thus the North Americal style) and were used in the "Linha de Cascais". I could be wrong, lol.
Thanks! I travelled that line a few days after this trip, check out the video here:
th-cam.com/video/H_Ao91nR4z0/w-d-xo.html
This brings back great memories of my three years in Portugal during the mid 1980s.
Great! I bet the trains were a lot less modern then... 😂
@@SuperalbsTravels Yep.... but much more beautiful!
Usually pensioners get a 50% discount on the ticket prices when you produce your passport at the ticket office. Not sure if it’s so on this train. I live in Figueiró Dos Vinhos and catch the ordinary train from Pombal to Lisbon Oriente ticket cost €10:50 first class. Compared to the UK Portugal trains are superb and very reasonable.
That's a great deal!
Really enjoy your train vlogs, keep up the great work
Thank you very much, I'm glad you enjoy watching as much as I enjoy making them!
ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL TRAIN
Great video. Love Portugal, next time i will take the train from Lisbon ti Porto
Yes, hope you enjoy it!
I travelled with the Alfa Pendular Porto to Lisboa in comfort class. I didn't like the seats not so good comfort. I also dont like leather seats. The Swedish X2000 has superior seats, especially after the latest upgrade. Also the train travelled quite slowly on long parts of the journey, probably due not so good tracks. What is nice is that seats are synchronised with the windows so you can have a good view. Beside the seats it was a good journey. I like the catering service at the seat.
I think next time we go we will try this train 👍🏼 thx nice vlog
Sabrina🇫🇷🇬🇧
Awesome! Thanks for watching, hope you enjoy your ride. :)
Portugal is on my bucket list. Not because of the weather (I actually live farther south and still in Europe), but because it strikes me as an interesting country. Once a world power, then a poor peripheral area of Europe, but the impression they give is that they have an idea of what they're doing. And not just when playing football. 🙂 But when you look at my native Netherlands -not exactly a poor country- and see trains that are basically glorified metros, overcrowded, understaffed, and expensive to boot - yeah, maybe it wouldn't hurt to look abroad and see what's possible.
I love Portugal, it's such a lovely place!
I just love people….lifestyle….
Why portugal is poor don't believe everything you read portugues are perfect for deception learn...
Great video! I will definitely try this train out when I go to Lisbon.
I’ve heard a lot about Porto and even talking with Portuguese people they said to me forget about the algarve and Lisbon and visit Porto so for roughly 4 years it’s managed to get onto my bucket list, lovely post
Don't forget Lisbon and Algarve, both are incredibly beautiful cities.
I've not actually made it to the Algarve before, but can confirm that Porto is lovely!
They're all beautiful in their own way. People are biased, of course. Visit them all and judge for yourself!
Thanks for your video. This train looks fabulous! Heading to Portugal in the autumn so this really is informative.
I love train journey videos and information
Mostly intresting if discuss for train suspension system topic etc.💚
Very helpful, good to know about the coins for luagge and the cost of food, also knowing about supermarkets at railway station.
Thank you for the excellent video. It had everything I could ask for in a train service review. I am not a train aficionado, but I can easily see the identical interior features of these trains to the Acela (Amtrak in US) trains, even down to the foot rest. This journey is very similar to the Acela service between Washington DC and New York, but at only 10% to 15% of the price. One way Acela is between $200 to $400 (sometimes over $500)!
Thankyou for introducing Aolonio railway station. Introducing of enjoyfull and comfortable journey on the train in good fecilitys. I am an Indian is appreciting to your Portuguese railway zone. Greate 👍👍👍👍
Beautiful train, we have nothing like that in Canada.
Sadly true. :(
Glad I found this as I will be making this journey in early March.
Hope you have a lovely trip!
I have travelled in IC second class from Porto Campahna to Lisbon Santa Apollonia, great travel a week ago. Beautiful Cities, people wery warm and smart. A Great Country Portugal
It is lovely!
Thank you posting this video! Very helpful for our trip from Lisbon to Porto.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellence in train travel and at a great low price! Thanks for the trip!🎉
Love the content! Thanks for visiting Portugal!!
Thank you! More to come. 😊
It's interesting - and a bit sad - that they still didn't have on seat service… IIRC, the last time I made a trip on the AP, I had a meal bought in advance and served on my seat, but that was before the pandemic. It was much better than anything you get on a flight, if a bit on the expensive side.
That just makes me think I need to give it another ride then! Thanks for the information! :)
For those who are saying that Portugal don't need high speed, or why i'm 100% in favor:
1) Distance by train between the 2 major cities is more than 330 km's
2) Travel takes 3 hours, like in 1977
3) Alfa service was introduced in 1999, and in the last 20 some years, works done on the main line only shortened time travel in 30 minutes
4) Some Northern lines and Lisbon train lines are already full, so they're less competitive since they cannot increase services anymore. Lisbon-Porto line is currently full
5) It's projected that in 10 years travel demand between the 2 cities will more than duplicate
6) It allows a major CO2 cut, in line with EU's green policy, by creating a 75 minutes direct scheduled travel that will make the current Lisbon-Porto air line service obsolete
7) It will allow direct connection with two fast train corridors to the east with Spain, and a much faster connection with Vigo
8) It will release faster trains and lines for other services.
Don't mind English mistakes 😉
Thanks! I’m taking this train soon so great to see what to expect.
I'm from Porto and I've traveled only once in the alpha! It's too expensive. I normally go on the IC (inter cidades) which is cheaper and also very comfortable! It takes only 30m more! They recently refurbished the old's CP2600 series... they are just beautiful; actually my favorite ones! The most comfortable train is, in my opinion, the cp2600 with the Schindler passenger wagons. They are old but very spacy and silent... and we can ride with the windows and doors opened or seated on the door's steps, taking the wind in the heat of the summer... maybe not today but I did that almost every week in the 90's when I use the train to go to school.... good old memories! You need to try that from Porto to Viana!
Very nice video, today help me a lot 👍🏽
Good to hear, thank you!
The older carriages at the beginning look French to me, rather than American! When I lived in France in the early 1970s, corrugated side carriages were normal on their commuter trains. Incidentally, I believe the blue light in the loos is probably to discourage people from using drugs in there - that's what it does in some areas, anyway. Good video, although I'd have liked to have seen more of the standard class. Thank you.
These coaches were built by the Portuguese manufacturer SOREAME under Alstom licence ( Budd licence for the use of their stainless technique ) so yeah they’re based on the Corail
Seems like a bit of a mix of both!
Never been on the train in Portugal but I have been to Portugal on holiday for a week and went on bus and coach.
How did you like the public transportation?
@@nat3299 Because I was with my mum and brother and we went on couple trips in and around South Portugal and Faro. And it was around 2011.
Firtsly I would you congratulate for the video, and secondly about the carriages and EMUs in 3´30", yes, the main local manufacturer SOREFAME, now defunct, had the Budd lisence to build inox carruages in Europe in the 1940´s. Lot of inox cars were built and exported from Portugal worldwide, including the US. The cars appearing in 3´30" are Corail cars built by Sorefame in Portugal in 1985. Obrigado e parabéns ;)
Thanks!
Those Inox carriages went to places like France and Italy, if I am thinking of the right ones?
@@SuperalbsTravels Sorry for my delay answering. These cars are Corail inox built by Sorefame in 1985/86. Firstly top speed 160km/h, now at 200km/h. Instead the other Sorefame carruages these Corail cars never go abroad. So, from 1981 to 1983 SNCF rented some Corail coaches to Renfe
That was a really nice video, I live in Lisbon and thank you for the video.
Thanks, glad you liked it. :)
I travelled via the same train last week from Lisboa Oriente to Porto camapanha; not the first class tho, but even that was superb!
It started a bit late but we arrived the destination as per the scheduled time.
love Portugal!
Muito obrigada pêlo atenção e pêlo apoio. 🇵🇹🇵🇹🇵🇹❤️🤗
I'm from the US. The premier train in the US is a lot more expensive than Portugal's. I would like to visit Portugal in the future because this definitely is a great experience and comfortable for the premier train.
Lindo passeio.
Uma boa sugestão de passeio por Portugal.
Stunning trains
They sure are!
Great video, as usual! Haven't done this route in over 20 years! Great price compared to Northern Europe!
Thank you so much for the video, beautiful and wonderful country.
3:41 they look very american because of the stainless steel body patent that Sorefame used under license from the US' Budd Company.
The coaches at 3:27 are the portuguese version of Corail, also built by Sorefame.
6:20 the at seat service existed until the pandemic I think.
Exactly. What's more ironic is that Sorefame actually supplied the body frame of some subway cars in Chicago, NYC, and Philly. The ones supplied to Philly were after Budd (which was from Philly) had gone out of business.
Prices weren't bad. Great video as always!
Thanks! :)
Nice video, it's really good to travel by train. Thought I never took first class in Alfa or Intercity both are very good to travel. You caught me by surprise when you said Tagus instead of Tejo, for me Tagus is a beer or a company Taguspark (science) never I thought it refers to river Tejo. I thought that you got it wrong, but then I looked up on the Aguas of Portugal site I saw here is a translation for example: "Despoluição do Estuário do Tejo" - "Tagus Clean-up Project". I can never agree with it! Same with Porto - Oporto; and Fernão de Magalhães - Ferdinand Magellan
The Aveiro Railway Station it´s very beautiful! Both the old and the new! I didn't see it in the video... kkkk
I do have a video starting there coming up some time. :)
Super video! Nice train ride! Thumbs Up
Greetings from Dublin
Andrew
I missed the personal introduction. But, very small quibble. Great and entertaining video. 😀
Sadly, I hadn't recorded one. This is the case for my oldest videos, this one was a couple of months before I started doing them like that.
@@SuperalbsTravels I assumed as much. Nevertheless, still great!
@@reaperx2657 Some of them are also really bad, so those videos will also have no personal intro.
Thanks as always! 😊
I just booked Lisbon to Porto first class today for July on the alfa pendular for €28.50... I'm glad I did now after discovering this video now.
Have a nice trip! 😁
I am glad to know about this great value train to Oporto. Thanks! I subscribed.