Tram line 28E (“carreira número 28” in Portuguese) is the most popular streetcar route in Lisbon for tourists. Featuring classic streetcars from the 1930s, this storied line starts at Martim Moniz and winds its way “clockwise” through the Graça and Alfama areas of Lisbon. I rode the “right” / east loop.
By Don-kun, Open Street Map – Own work, with data from Open Street Map, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16875292
On June 1, 2022 I awoke early to catch the first run of 28E. It gets very busy during the day with tourist traffic, so I chose to get up before most tourists. I walked over to the starting point of the line, Martim Moniz, to find vehicle 572 waiting there.
By the way, the “E” in line 28E is for elétricos (“electric”), to differentiate them from the earlier cable-driven trams.
Martim Moniz was allegedly a knight who, during the Siege of Lisbon in 1147, wedged himself in the main door of São Jorge Castle to prevent the Moors from closing it during the siege. (Wikipedia)
Nobody was around, so I waited until the driver showed up and unlocked the vehicle. I think initially there was only one or two other passengers.
I rode the tram for a few stops, then got off at a particularly “twisty” part of the line. My plan was to wander along the line, looking for photogenic areas. There are plenty!
There are more than a few hills, some fairly steep.
While I was waiting for the next tram to come along, I had a look at the switches embedded in the cobblestone road. There are passing sidings (like the one above) and the switches are manually operated. The streetcar operator gets out and uses a metal bar to move the points. I think they are spring loaded so you can run through them from the siding side.
A great article on tram line 28 and what you can see along the line
When walking along the route of tram 28E, you have to be careful about where you are in relation to the tram. The vehicle gets pretty close to buildings on some of the turns!
I’d like to point out that the streetcar / tram has both a pole and a catenary for the electrical connection. Here the pole is used, probably because there’s no space overhead for catenary lines. Look at the last photo in this post to see the catenary deployed.
It’s hard to believe that a streetcar runs along these streets. We’d call them “back alleys” in Winnipeg. It’s even harder to believe that cars also use these streets, but here they are. There are traffic lights on some of these streets as well.
This is another reason why we use public transit when we visit Europe, instead of renting cars. Less stress!
We drove in Germany in 2023 to visit castles in Bavaria, and we ended up driving on streets like these in Bamberg, almost driving through a marathon route by accident. It was stressful, to say the least.
More walking, more trams… passing on one of the sidings.
By this time, I was approaching the Miradouro das Portas do Sol, which is a large balcony overlooking the Alfama neighbourhood. Fortunately the sun came out, which made for some nice photos.
By this time, other tourists were starting to appear. I can’t blame them – after all, I was a tourist too – a tram tourist.
Lisbon’s public transit system isn’t just trams – and the subway. There are buses as well, although I didn’t pay a lot of attention to them. I’m just not a bus person. However, I did like these short buses, necessarily tiny to navigate the twisty streets of Lisbon.
Walking down the hill, I found a sliver of bright sunlight by the Sé de Lisboa (Lisbon Cathedral), a very popular destination just outside the downtown area.
I waited there for a tram to wander through it. I recall getting a drink from a nearby store while I waited… it was starting to get hot.
I think it was worth the wait.
Walking farther west, downhill, the route became less twisty and the area became more “downtown-like”.
Lisbon was devastated by an earthquake on November 1, 1755, which destroyed most of the buildings in the city and killed thirty to fourty thousand people (more than 10% of the city residents). Rather than rebuild the city “as is”, Lisbon’s downtown area was built according to “modern” standards, with large plazas and streets in a grid arrangement.
I completed walking downtown and ended up at the Praça do Comércio (mentioned in an earlier post).
I just had to get one more tram photo to complete the series.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of (part of) line 28E. I sure did.