CP Keeps Beira Baixa Travellers on Buses While 148 km of Working Track Sits Empty

CP (Comboios de Portugal, the state railway operator) is still moving long-distance passengers along the Linha da Beira Baixa (Beira Baixa Line) by road, even though roughly 148 kilometres of the electrified line are fully operational, according to Público.

The disruption traces back to a landslide (derrocada) on 11 February 2026 that damaged a stretch between Mouriscas, in the municipality of Abrantes, and Vila Velha de Ródão. The harm is confined to that section, but CP responded by suspending through trains across a far longer portion of the route — leaving kilometres of usable track without a single intercity service.

Since March, the three daily Intercidades (Intercity) services in each direction have run only between Lisbon and Abrantes. There, passengers must change onto two buses, one bound for Covilhã and the other for Guarda. At weekends, each service is reinforced with an extra coach in each direction. Meanwhile, eight Regional (regional) trains continue to run every day on the very stretch that intercity passengers are barred from riding.

The contradiction — working electrified track sitting idle while travellers ride replacement buses — is what has drawn scrutiny. Público reported that nationwide there are about 192 kilometres of operational railway where CP is running road transfers instead of trains, with the Beira Baixa line and parts of the Linha do Oeste (West Line) accounting for much of the total.

For passengers, the practical cost is time and reliability. Bus transfers lengthen journeys, complicate connections and make the railway a less dependable option for people travelling between the capital and the interior — precisely the regions that have most to lose from weak transport links. The PCP (Partido Comunista Português, Portuguese Communist Party) has warned that the prolonged interruption is inflicting economic damage on the Beira Baixa region, which relies on the line for both commuters and visitors.

Responsibility for repairing the damaged section rests with Infraestruturas de Portugal (Portugal Infrastructure, the network manager), while CP operates the trains that run on it. The split has fuelled questions about why a localised landslide should keep so much sound track out of service for months, and when full rail operations will resume.

For now, anyone planning to travel the Beira Baixa line should budget for the bus leg between Abrantes and the Covilhã or Guarda branches — and check timetables carefully, since the road transfers do not always mirror the train schedule they replace.