In Lisbon, Subway stations can be identified by the red M (which stands for Metropolitano, which is what we call our subway).
Here's a regular entrance:
At the entrance you're likely to find these two posters. The one on the left has the working hours of the station, which in this case is from 06:30 to 01:00.
With some stations, some of the entrances close earlier than what is advertised. This means that if, for instance, it's 00:00 and you see the entrance closed, you should look around, because there should be a bunch of others (each station has about 4 to 7 entrances) that are still open.
Inside the station you'll find the diagram of the subway network. There are only four lines, so you not likely to get lost easily.
We included the diagram of the network on this website, for your convenience.
You can buy tickets in these machines:
They have a friendly interface wichi is available in Portuguese, English, French and Spanish:
You might want to use these machines at least one, to buy a "Return ticket urban" so you can get to the conference dinner and back.
Here's an old screenshot of the machine interface (the current price of the tickets is of 80 cents, and the card it gives you, which is rechargeable, costs 50 cents):
Usually you'll want a "1 zone" ticket. You'll only need a "2 zones" ticket if you're going to the stations of Amadora-Este, Alfornelos or Odivelas, which is not very likely, if you're coming for the conference.
The machines accept Euro coins and bills, and also some cards.
The machine will give you a card that you should keep even after you use it (it's rechargeable and the card itself costs 50 cents).
After that you'll use that card to pass through these:
In the subway, among other things, you're going to find maps of the city:
You will also find smaller maps of the city area you're in.
The train runs on the left side of the rails, which means that if you face the line, your train should arrive from your right and the doors on its left will open.
In some stations (not many) the train isn't long enough to cover the whole station, which means you should wait on the platform in the direction of travel, so that you don't have to walk or run to catch the train.
Trains arrive every five minutes during most of the day, so you don't need to be in a hurry.
The subway system is usually quite safe and there's security guards patrolling it. That doesn't mean you should be careless, but it's safe.
In the early morning hours you'll also see people distributing free newspapers such as Metro and Destak.
Most of the stations have some kind of art (paintings, sculptures, and sometimes even bands).
You can find more information on the official website: http://www.metrolisboa.pt/eng
version 5 saved on 28/07/09 20:08 by Diogo Antunes
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