The Metro Mondego, part of the

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

system of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

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 ...

, was to have been a light-rail network that runs above ground in Coimbra into the city's

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s. Studies and planning were in progress but the Metro Mondego project was cancelled in January 2011 at the height of Portuguese financial crisis. The operational conventional

rail line Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...

connecting the municipalities of:

Miranda do Corvo Miranda do Corvo () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Coimbra, with an area of and 2011 population of 13,098 inhabitants. History The first reference to the region of Miranda do Corvo arrived at the end of the 10th cent ...

Lousã Lousã () is a town and concelho, municipality in the district of Coimbra (district), Coimbra, in the central part of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 17,604, in an area of 138.40 km2. History The oldest evidence provides an indication ...

, and Serpins was closed at the same time and replaced by a bus service. A major part of the plan was to rejoin the isolated section of rail line between the stations of Coimbra - Parque and Serpins to the rest of the rail network at Coimbra and Coimbra - B station. This would have involved street running along Avenida Ermidio Navarro and Avenida da Lousã between the two existing stations of Coimbra and Coimbra - Parque. There was a single un-electrified track along that street section used once a day for a scheduled train. It was also used to transfer rolling stock to and from the Coimbra - Parque station. Travelling north, the trains ran in the opposite direction to road traffic along a one-way street. The track embedded in the street is still intact; however, the Coimbra-Parque station was demolished in March 2022, and by that time, the rails in the other sections of the track had been lifted. There is some local agitation to have the Serpins aspect of the project restarted as there is dissatisfication with the replacement bus service; current plans see the replacement of the railway with a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

service,

Stations

The system would have had two lines with several stations: *Line A: ''Coimbra-B'' - ''Hospital'' *Line B: ''Coimbra-B'' - ''Serpins'' along the line of the old railway.

Line A

*Coimbra B (train connections to

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

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 ...

, Guarda,

Figueira da Foz Figueira da Foz (), also known as Figueira for short, is a city and a municipality in the Coimbra District, in Portugal. Practically at the midpoint of the Iberian Peninsula's Atlantic coast, it is located at the mouth of the Mondego River, west ...

) *Açude *Inês de Castro *Aeminium *Arnado *Câmara (City Hall) *Mercado *Praça da República *Universidade (

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

) *Sereia ( Parque de Santa Cruz) *Celas *Hospital

Line B

*Coimbra B *Açude *Inês de Castro *Aeminium *Portagem *Parque (near

Mondego River The Rio Mondego () or Mondego River is the longest river entirely within Portuguese territory. It has its source in Serra da Estrela, the highest mountain range in mainland Portugal (i.e. excluding the Portuguese islands). It runs from the Go ...

) *Rainha Santa *Arregaça *Norton Matos *São José *Solum (near

Estádio Cidade de Coimbra Estádio Cidade de Coimbra is a stadium in Coimbra, Portugal. This stadium belongs to the Municipality of Coimbra and is mainly used by the Académica de Coimbra's football team. The stadium was rebuilt, expanded, and modernized to host some UEF ...

) *Vale das Flores *Carvalhosas *Quinta da Fonte *Conraria *Ceira *Vale de Açor *Tremoa *Moinhos *Lobazes *Miranda do Corvo *Corvo *Padrão *Meiral *Lousã - A *Lousã *Espirito Santo *Serpins

External links

metromondego.pt
- official site Buildings and structures in Coimbra Light rail in Portugal {{Europe-metro-stub