The Beira Baixa Line Comes Back on 20 September, Seven Months After Storm Kristin Slid the Embankment Away
Infraestruturas de Portugal will reopen the stretch between Mouriscas-A and Vila Velha de Rodao, restoring Regional and Intercidades services along all 240 kilometres. The repair cost 3.4 million euros and used 5,500 cubic metres of rockfill on 120 metres of track.
Trains return to the Beira Baixa Line on 20 September. Infraestruturas de Portugal announced on Thursday that circulation between the stations of Mouriscas-A and Vila Velha de Ródão will reopen on that date, restoring Regional and Intercidades services along the full length of the line for the first time since March.
The stretch has been closed since two landslides between kilometres 39.150 and 39.270 destabilised the rail platform. The cause was Storm Kristin, which crossed the country in February. Repairing 120 metres of embankment took seven months and cost 3.4 million euros.
What was actually rebuilt
The works were more than a track relay. Contractors stabilised the slopes with about 5,500 cubic metres of rockfill, then built two reinforced-concrete structures founded on micropiles to hold the platform, with an intermediate capping beam running between them. The drainage system was rehabilitated and its culverts improved. Track, telecommunications, earthing systems and the remaining lineside infrastructure were then fully replaced.
Infraestruturas de Portugal describes the conditions as "particularly demanding": limited access to the site, an unstable platform, little room to move equipment, difficulty getting materials in, and the high temperatures under which the crews worked. Paulo Carmona, the company's president, called the reopening "much more than the conclusion of a piece of work", framing it as the return of "an essential rail link for the populations" after the storm.
The date lands roughly where the government said it would. In July the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo, said the line could reopen in September or October, "a little earlier than we were thinking".
What it replaces
The Beira Baixa Line runs about 240 kilometres from Entroncamento to Guarda, through Abrantes, Castelo Branco and Covilhã. Since 16 March, passengers have been moved by road: buses have replaced the Intercidades between Abrantes and Guarda, and the Regional service between Mouriscas A and Vila Velha de Ródão. From 11 July the Intercidades replacement bus also began stopping at Belmonte. Regional trains have been running only between Entroncamento and Mouriscas A, and between Vila Velha de Ródão and Castelo Branco, with the Intercidades turning back at Abrantes instead of continuing from Lisboa Santa Apolónia.
There is a freight argument too. With the section open, the national network regains redundancy alongside the Beira Alta Line for international rail freight, which matters whenever the Beira Alta is closed for works or blocked.
Not every storm-damaged line comes back this month. The Linha do Oeste was also hit, and the Secretary of State expects normal circulation there only in January 2027.
What this means for expats
- Check before you book: the reopening covers Mouriscas-A to Ródão from 20 September, and CP timetables for Castelo Branco, Covilhã and Guarda should revert to rail rather than a bus leg from that date.
- Seven months of buses is the context: in June we reported that CP was keeping Beira Baixa travellers on buses while 148 km of working track sat empty.
- Delays now carry a price: under the passenger rights law gazetted this week, a train two hours late will owe you half the fare from October.
- Kristin is still being paid for: the storm's bills keep arriving, from a toll-waiver decree charged to the state budget to the households where 25 people still cannot return home.
- If you are riding for the scenery: our guide to the Douro Line covers fares, timetables and the heritage train on Portugal's other great regional route.
