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Light rail system in Porto, Portugal

The Porto Metro (Metro do Porto) is a light rail network in Porto, Portugal and a key part of the city's public transport system. Being a semi metro, it runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs using low floor tram vehicles. The first parts of the system have been in operation since 2002. It is a separate system to Porto's vintage trams. The network has 6 lines and reaches seven municipalities within the metropolitan Porto area: Porto, Gondomar, Maia, Matosinhos, Póvoa de Varzim, Vila do Conde and Vila Nova de Gaia. It currently has a total of 82 operational stations across of double track commercial line. Most of the system is at ground level or elevated, but of the network is underground. The system is run by ViaPORTO.

Metro do Porto S. A. was founded in 1993, and Line A (blue line) between Senhor de Matosinhos and Trindade in central Porto was the first Porto Metro line to open, in 2002. The line was extended in 2004 to Estádio do Dragão, in time for the Euro 2004 Football championship. On April 14, 2005, Line B (red line) opened. The Casa da Música concert hall (which has a station on the combined ABCEF line) opened on the same day. Lines A and B are the last legacy of a line which once went from Trindade to Famalicão, originally narrow gauge, opened in 1875, completed in 1881 and switched to metre gauge in 1930. (The stretch from Varzim to Famalicão is now a bicycle trail.) Line C (green line) opened on July 30, 2005, reaching the centre of Maia. An extension to ISMAI opened in March 2006. Line C uses a stretch formerly part of the Guimarães line which joined the current line at Lousado. Line D (yellow line) proved the most problematic to excavate and opened in 2005. The line runs from João de Deus and Vila Nova de Gaia in the south before crossing the River Douro and passing through central Porto en route to São João Hospital in the north. The São João Hospital and IPO stations were not brought into service until April 2006 due to safety concerns. In October 2011, it was extended to Santo Ovídio. Line E (violet line) opened on May 27, 2006, connecting the Airport Francisco Sá Carneiro and Campanhã. Several weeks later, the line was extended to Estádio do Dragão. An end to end journey takes 33 minutes, with services departing every 20 minutes. Line F (orange line) opened on January 2, 2011, connecting the Porto city centre to the Gondomar region in the east, this line runs between Senhora da Hora and Fânzeres. Lines A, B, C, E & F follow the same course within the City of Porto (between Estádio do Dragão and Senhora da Hora). The transfer point between Line ABCEF and Line D is at Trindade in central Porto; from Trindade to Senhora da Hora, the right of way recycles the original Porto Varzim Famalicão/Maia Trofa Guimarães trunk line.

As of 2007, the total cost of the Porto Metro public transport system stands at 3.5 billion euros over 1% of Portugal's GDP. The first phase of the project alone, which was led by the mayors of several Grande Porto (Greater Porto) municipalities including Valentim Loureiro as a chairman of the state owned company, was 140% more expensive than initially planned – a slippage of over 1,5 billion euros. The Porto Metro state owned company has reported losses every year, reaching a record loss of 122 million euros in 2006.

The Metro uses modern Eurotram low floor, articulated trams. Flexity Swift LRVs are used on line B, Bx and occasionally line C since 2008, and can reach They also have more seats, and can, in common with most modern light rail systems, recover 30% of the total of consumed energy during braking. New LVRs from CRRC Tangshan, dubbed CRRC Tram or CT, are being implemented on the network, running since 2023 on line C.

The majority of services run with two LRVs coupled together. The Eurotram consists of four main compartments, two in each carriage linked by short corridors, and also features an articulation between the two carriages. They have a capacity of 80 seated and 134 standing passengers. The Flexity Swift consists of three components linked by articulations, with a capacity of 100 seated and 148 standing passengers. The CT consists of four articulated components, having a capacity of 244 passengers, 64 of which are seated.

The system uses the "Andante" ticketing system. Machines in stations issue and can recharge Andante Azul blue "Occasional" tickets, while Andante Gold is a credit card style "Gold" tickets (which bear a scanned photograph of the holder) that can be purchased in Lojas Andante (Andante Shops). Tickets can also be topped up at Multibanco ATM terminals. The Porto Metro operates on a proof of payment system. Tickets must be validated before travel by scanning them in front of the yellow machines located in stations. A validated occasional ticket allows for unlimited travel within a specified time period, currently 1 hour for the minimum 2 zone ticket, and longer as the number of valid zones increases. The gold passes allow unlimited travel within a pre defined area, and are available in "anytime" or cheaper "10/16" (off peak) versions. There is also a daily ticket, known as Andante 24 that allows the user to make unlimited trips within a given day in the zones chosen. For example, a Z3 (3 zone) ticket is valid for 3 zones in any direction of travel from the first validated zone. So, to cover all of the Metro, except the northernmost part of Line B (zones VCD3 and PV VC), a Z4 ticket is needed, provided it is validated in zone PRT1. There are no faregates within the Metro; instead, groups of fare inspectors randomly check tickets with hand held scanners. The current penalty for travelling without a validated ticket is €120. The metro uses the same zoning system as the majority of public transport providers in the Porto metropolitan area, which is divided by counties, and further divided into numbered sub zones (for example, VCD3 is the third area of the Vila do Conde county). The PRT1 zone in central Porto is effectively the area contained within the VCI (Via Cintura Interna) inner ring road, while zones PRT2 and PRT3 are the areas between the VCI and the Estrada da Circunvalação outer ring road. The Andante system is being rolled out across the entire Porto public transit network. STCP bus routes and some other bus routes currently accept Andante and the intention is for the entire bus, metro and suburban train network to become integrated. The same ticket cannot be used on downtown Porto trams and the cable car (Funicular dos Guindais). The Andante Azul that tourists typically use are not valid, though the Andante Gold loaded with monthly tickets may be accepted.

The Metro do Porto company also operates the Funicular of Guindais, a cable car system that was originally built in 1891 and was recently remodelled. It connects the riverside area of Ribeira to higher ground at Batalha, near the São Bento station.

Line D: Connection to Vila D'Este. Construction of the 3.15km, 3 station extension began in March of 2021 and the station is planned to enter service at the beginning of 2024. Line G (Pink line): A new 2.7km, 4 station fully underground line which connects Casa da Música to São Bento through Cordoaria. The construction started in 2020 and the line is expected to go into service at the start of 2025. Line H (Ruby line): A new 6.74km, 8 station line that will connect Casa da Música station in Porto with Santo Ovídio station in Vila Nova de Gaia. Construction will be put out for bid in 2023 with the line planned to enter service in 2026.