gordonthemoron
Established Member
Has anyone any experience of booking tickets on the cp.pt website? Do you get a self print ticket, collect from a TVM or sent by mail?
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Portuguese Railways - tickets
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LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
I got mine as an e-ticket (Lisbon-Porto).
No problems at all.
I also booked cross-border Porto-Vigo, but had to book that on Renfe's site.
Worst part of the trip was queuing to buy a Metro ticket from the ATMs at Lisbon airport station (unstaffed).
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gordonthemoron
Established Member
yes, I'm not sure which Lisbon metro ticket is appropriate as I guess day tickets are the best bet but I'm not sure what the boundaries are (metro v +CP out to Sintra/Cascais)
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
I ended up buying the "zapping" (pay as you go) version of Viva Viagem, because I wanted to use the Tejo ferries as well as go to Cascais (and the metro from the airport).
I put 15 on the ticket, but of course can't remember now how much credit I was left with.
The bus/metro/CP version is I think 10, and is valid to Cascais/Sintra (but not on the Tejo ferries).
A ferry trip Cais do Sodre to Cacilhas gives a great view of the city.
Starts from the same place Cascais trains start.
paddington
Member
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I have only done this once and got a self-print ticket, but the conductor didn't want or need to see it. He already knew my name from his handheld device and did not want to see any ID.
(I believe PT trains have compulsory seat reservations which is the only way this could work)
gordonthemoron
Established Member
thanks, very helpful
duesselmartin
Established Member
InterCity or AlphaPendular and of course Talgo have compulsory seat reservation. At least that was my experience on last years Algarve tour.
Mordac
Established Member
That is correct. No reservations on Interregional, Regional or suburban trains. And I don't know for sure, but don't think there are any on the international Porto to Vigo trains.
It's similar to Munich Airport station - too few machines for the number of passengers using the station.
The important thing to note about the TVMs is your ticket has to be loaded on to a Viva Viagem card. If you have one then you select an option saying you've got one, if you don't then you are issued with one and charged 50 cents for it.
One other thing to note about Portuguese public transport is if a union calls a strike they don't have to give passengers any real warning, so you might find a strike is on even if there was no mention of it on the operator's website the day before.
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
You are right.
The Porto-Vigo trains are just local Porto DMUs, the same as they use on the Douro services.
I believe these CP trains originally belonged to Renfe.
A fascinating run though, ancient single track mainly.
I believe they've recently decided to upgrade and electrify to the border.
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Mordac
Established Member
Correct on all accounts. Renfe still owns them, but they're being leased by CP. One caught fire recently, and another was wrecked in the recent crash.
Work has recently started to electrify from Nine (where the line to Braga branches off) to Viana do Castelo, and tendering is ongoing from Viana do the border.
I don't think that other than removing level crossings there will be much upgrade work though.
rf_ioliver
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I recommend the "zapping" ticket - kind of pay as you go idea. One word of warning however, while you can use the ticket on Fertagus trains (private operator in Lisbon) you'll have to go to their ticket machines first, buy a ticket there and then validate it on the platform...a bit weird and I can't fully recall precisely how it works (was there last year)
Enjoy Portugal - fantastic country!
t.
Ian
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
I've just checked my (Renfe) ticket for Porto-Vigo (2015) and it did allocate a specific seat on the 3-car DMU.
However, on the day I didn't get the impression it mattered much.
Not empty, but not busy either.
Basically sit where you like.
However, on the day I didn't get the impression it mattered much.
Not empty, but not busy either.
Basically sit where you like.
I may have been on that one. My third on train fire.
Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
Andrewlong
Member
Totally agree - we did the zapping thing too in Lisbon though you need to find someone to explain the jargon or read up before hand. If you take ferry, to other side, you can get a bus up to the statue of Jesus where the views are similar those of San Francisco and the Golden gate Bridge. You wont be able to use your zapping card on the bus though. Different operator but it will hardly break the bank!
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
If you do that to Wikipedia articles on Hungarian railways in Hungarian, it frequently translates the station names North American ones, so you get San Francisco and Chicago appearing in the text.
Belem really is, I think, the Portuguese for the place we call Bethlehem, so it was on the right lines!
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rf_ioliver
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Are you sure? At least the tram operator on the south side and Fertagus utilise the zapping ticket...admittedly I haven't taken the bus but I thought all Lisbon area operators accept the same tickets.
On the otherhand, as you say, Lisbon public transport is cheap
t.
Ian
Mordac
Established Member
Are you sure? At least the tram operator on the south side and Fertagus utilise the zapping ticket...admittedly I haven't taken the bus but I thought all Lisbon area operators accept the same tickets.
On the otherhand, as you say, Lisbon public transport is cheap
t.
Ian
Yep, you can use the same cards to load tickets onto, but you can't use zapping on the privately owned bus operators, so you need to keep two separate cards.
Giugiaro
Member
Am I still of any help at this point?
gordonthemoron
Established Member
I have all the answers I need, either from here or cp.pt
gordonthemoron
Established Member
Actually, there is one thing. I am intending on doing Porto-Faro, the 15:47 looks OK but arrives quite late. There is a connection on the 10:52 changing at Lisboa Oriente but the connection time is only 10 minutes, is this adequate? I would prefer to use the 9:47 which has an extended connection time at Oriente, is there any way to force the website to choose this service from Porto instead?
TheSeeker
Member
My wife's parents live in a small village near Castro Daire and we often drive with them down the Douro valley and over the mountains, via Regua to the airport at Porto. They call it the cheap way to avoid the motorway tolls via the south. What an amazing sight. The line to Regua snakes along the side of the valley, crossing and re crossing the road with steel trestle bridges. I'd always assumed Regua was the terminus. Will have to explore the line this summer by train.
I took these pictures on a visit at Easter in 2012.
Cheers
Ben
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Giugiaro
Member
The CP website limits interchanges up to 15 or 20 minutes between arrival and departure, which is what most people look for, but might not be ideal.
The best way to do this is to buy the two lengths separately. Promotions are per-train so buying both together or separately doesn't change anything. The only risk is that someone may take the last promotional seat from one of the two trains you need.
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