SATUOeiras (Sistema Automático de Transporte Urbano de Oeiras), also known simply as SATU, was a elevated automated

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

that operated in Oeiras,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

from 2004 to 2015. The line connected

Paço de Arcos Paço de Arcos () is a locality of Oeiras, Portugal, Oeiras. In 2013, the parish of Paço de Arcos merged into the new parish Oeiras e São Julião da Barra, Paço de Arcos e Caxias. The population in 2011 was 15,315, in an area of 3.39 km² ...

with Oeiras Parque Shopping Center and consisted of 3 stations and 2 cars. Discussions to possibly reopen and expand the line have been ongoing since 2017.

History

Oeiras is a satellite community and commuter town approximately west of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

. SATUOeiras was created as a partnership between Oeiras City Council and

Teixeira Duarte Teixeira Duarte, S.A. is the company that leads a large conglomerate with more than 11,000 workers, present in 22 countries, in 6 activity sectors, achieving in 2019 a turnover of 877 million Euros. Teixeira Duarte, S.A. is listed at Euron ...

with a 51% / 49% ownership structure respectively. Teixeira Duarte, whose headquarters are in Oeiras, was interested in providing better transportation for its employees and connecting its offices in Lagoas Park with the heavily-used

Cascais Line The Cascais Line ( pt, Linha de Cascais) is a Portuguese railway line which connects the municipalities of Lisbon, Oeiras, and Cascais. The line starts in Lisbon, at Cais do Sodré and ends in Cascais. On the Lisbon urban trains' diagra ...

. Construction for SATUOeiras began in 2002 and the line opened on June 7, 2004 at cost of approximately 23 million

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

s. Originally intended to be the first phase of a longer system, low ridership and decreasing revenues led to the second phase never materializing. Due to Portuguese laws that prohibit municipal assets to operate at a loss for three consecutive years, SATUOeiras was expected to close as early as 2014. The service was officially terminated on May 31, 2015 after nearly eleven years of operation. As part of the

public–private partnership A public–private partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3) is a long-term arrangement between a government and private sector institutions.Hodge, G. A and Greve, C. (2007), Public–Private Partnerships: An International Performance Review, Public Administ ...

agreement, Teixeira Duarte assumed the deficit. Isaltino Morais, the former mayor of Oeiras who had originally been in power at the time of SATUOeiras's creation, was elected again as mayor in 2017 on a platform to reopen and expand the system. The municipality of Oeiras has since been in discussions for possible funding options. Currently the line's infrastructure remains but station entrances have been locked up to prevent public access.

Route

SATU's route had its southern terminus at Navegantes Station in the historic parish of

. This station acted as a transfer to the Lisbon commuter rail network and was just over from Paço de Arcos Station on the Cascais Line. The route's northern terminus was Forum Station connected to the Oeiras Parque Shopping Center and not far from the Parque dos Poetas. Tapadas Station was located between the two termini and served a residential community and school. Phase two would have extended SATUOeiras an additional to Lagoas Park, a

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

Porto Salvo Porto Salvo () is a freguesia, civil parish in the municipality of Oeiras, Portugal. It is situated to the north of the parish of Oeiras e São Julião da Barra, Paço de Arcos e Caxias. The population in 2011 was 15,157,TagusPark Taguspark is a science and technology park located in the municipality of Oeiras, Greater Lisbon subregion, Portugal. The Park covers an area of approximately 150 acres, and accommodates several research and development labs, innovative startup ...

and eventually

Agualva-Cacém Agualva-Cacém () is a Portuguese city located in the municipality of Sintra. It comprises the civil parishes of Agualva, Cacém, Mira-Sintra, and São Marcos, equivalent to 81,845 inhabitants of the municipalities population. History The name ...

Station in

Sintra Sintra (, ) is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 377,835, in an area of . Sintra is one of the most urbanized and densely populated ...

, providing a link between the Cascais and

Lines.

Operations

SATUOeiras utilized a

MiniMetro MiniMetro is a family of cable propelled automated people mover systems built by HTI Group. The vehicles either run on rails or an air cushion and have either a detachable grip (to the cable) or a fixed grip. Leitner has a test track for the v ...

automated people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks. ...

system on an elevated track. The rolling stock were two non-motorized cars that each had a capacity of 106 passengers. Cars were propelled by a cable system powered by an electric motor based at Navegantes Station, not unlike a

cable car Cable car most commonly refers to the following cable transportation systems: * Aerial lift, such as aerial tramways and gondola lifts, in which the vehicle is suspended in the air from a cable ** Aerial tramway ** Chairlift ** Gondola lift *** Bi ...

on a guided track. The line consisted of a single track which split into two at stations. SATUOeiras operated at four-minute intervals during peak times, but would also operate as an on-demand system at times of lowest ridership. During these times, riders would summon a SATU car by pressing a button at the station. Fares from SATUOeiras were not transferable to other public transport systems in the

Lisbon region Lisbon Region ( pt, Região de Lisboa, ) is one of the seven NUTS II designated regions of Portugal, which coincides with the NUTS III subregion Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The region covers an area of 3001.95 km2 (the smallest region on mainl ...

. A single fare was €1.15 for a one-way trip or €1.65 for a same-day return trip. SATU also offered an unlimited daypass for €2.85, a 10-trip pass for €6.15, and a 20-trip pass for €10.25.

References

{{Railway lines in Portugal Railway lines in Portugal Railway lines opened in 2004 Railway lines closed in 2015