Background and planning In the 1850s, planning began for a railway on the south bank of the
Tagus River, which would be connected by waterway to the city of Lisbon. Later, the starting point was changed to Barreiro, since this location had a natural harbor for the ships at Vale do Zebro, and as an artificial harbor would have to be built at Montijo, a costly project. Originally, the Caminho de Ferro do Sul used a 1.44m gauge. On 7 August of that year, the Companhia Nacional was nationalized, and the Caminho de Ferro do Sul and the branch to Setúbal were handed over to
Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro do Sueste on 21 April 1864. Later that year, the company was nationalized, and the operation of its lines was handed over to the Sueste Railway Company in 1864. To solve such problem, on October 4, 1884, a new railway station was built, named the South and Southeast Railway Station ("Estação do Caminho de Ferro Sul e Sueste"), which had wharves for boats, facilitating the transshipment process. The former structure came into use as a traction workshop, and the Grupo Oficinal do Barreiro was later based there, which was integrated into the Empresa de Manutenção de Equipamento Ferroviário (EMEF) in 1994. On March 1, 1889, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the first train had arrived in the
Faro station from Barreiro. The inauguration of the railroad to Faro took place on July 1 of that year. In October 1897, the monarchs
Carlos I and
Amélie visited
Algarve, having traveled by train between Barreiro and Faro.
Transition to the 20th century At the end of the 19th century, the station and its warehouses underwent expansion works, due to fears that the Cacilhas branch line, which was being planned at the time, would lead to a reduction in rail traffic.
20th century 1900s and 1910s , including the project from Barreiro to Cacilhas. An ordinance of 1 July 1901 authorized the board of directors of the
Caminhos de Ferro do Estado to build the first section of a
line between Barreiro and Cacilhas, especifically from Barreiro to the right bank of the Ribeira de Coina. This project, dated 31 December 1902, was approved on 11 July 1903. In 1901,
Companhia União Fabril built a chemical complex in Barreiro, which was connected to the station by a branch line called "Ramal Particular das Lezírias". On July 1, 1902, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the Southern and Southeastern railroad had already acquired six Kitson oil-powered lighting fixtures, which were to be first tried out at the Barreiro station, and then installed at the Beja station. At that time, the introduction of a power supply system was being studied, which was to be used at the Barreiro station, and to power the machinery and apparatus in the workshops. A Ministry of Public Works, Commerce and Industry decree of 19 September 1903 ordered the expropriation of a plot of land for the construction of a path between Miguel Pais and Carlos Albers streets, as part of the work to expand the Barreiro station. On 1 April 1903, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the materials and mechanisms for installing small portable compressed-air machine tools had arrived and assembly was about to begin. On February 1, 1908, the royal family passed through the Barreiro station during their trip from the Alentejo to Lisbon and suffered an attack shortly after leaving the
Terreiro do Paço Fluvial Terminal. On June 16, 1909, an order had been placed to complete an embankment that was destined for workshops and to pave the slopes for
créosotage. On April 1, 1910, forty wagons were to be built in Barreiro's workshops, destined for the Sul and Sueste network. In January 1912, there was a strike of railroad porters at the station. In December 1918, engineers Ernesto de Oliveira Rocha, head of the Material and Traction Service, and Artur de Campos Ventura, sub-chief of the same department, drew up a project for the remodeling and expansion of the general workshops at Barreiro since these facilities were already becoming insufficient for the repair and renovation of the rolling stock in the southern region. However, this measure did not please the political and economic authorities of Barreiro, who complained to the government.
1925 to 1930 In March 1925, construction began on the Barreiro mechanical coal plant, which was completed in October 1926. This structure cost several hundred contos and had a capacity for 250 tons of coal, but never came into regular use. During the
Revolt of February 1927, the Barreiro railwaymen joined the coup, interrupting the circulation of trains. Also in 1927, the Caminhos de Ferro do Estado were leased to the
Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses, which began operating the old Minho and Douro and South and Southeast networks on 11 May of that year. Following this process, a third commission was created in December, formed by engineers Duro Sequeira, Júlio José dos Santos and Mário Costa, representing the state, and Ferreira de Mesquita and Jorge Malheiro. Instead, they advocated building the new workshops on the site of the old ones, since advantage could be taken of the existing buildings, such as offices and cafeterias, large machine tools such as the air compressor or the acetylene producer, and the electricity, water, sewage and compressed air facilities.
1930s 1930 to 1935 In the 1930s, the architect
Cottinelli Telmo designed a food warehouse in Barreiro, which was built and expanded in the following decade to serve as a prototype for the design of other buildings of the same type in the country. In 1931, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses acquired the ship
Évora, to run river services between Lisbon and Barreiro. She was considered one of the best ships of this type at the time, improving the quality of service considerably. She was active until late 1975. In the 1931-1932 Report of the General Directorate of Railways, the expenditure of 1,500 contos on works at the Barreiro station was recorded. In 1932, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses built a concrete water reservoir with a capacity of 300m³, completed the reconstruction of the south wall of Barreiro, and continued work on the north wall. In June 1933, construction of the new general workshops began. Also in 1933, the company rebuilt part of the north wall and built an inclined plane. On August 25, 1933, a contract was signed with Sociedade de Construções Metálicas for the construction of the buildings for the new workshops, for $2,396,000. In 1934, the company installed two double telephone lines between Barreiro and Pinhal Novo and built the inclined plane of Barreiro's north wall. Also in 1934, road access was improved due to the construction of Avenida dos Sapadores. However, the railwaymen retracted and let the train pass, which arrived in Silves when the strikers were already preparing to assault the
National Republican Guard barracks.
1935 to 1940 For the construction of the avenue and the new workshops, the railway complex area was profoundly modified, with several warehouse and office buildings having been demolished, and new platforms for unloading passengers and goods being built. This project involved the creation of several embankments and excavations, raising the wall, as well as the construction of a lacy reinforced concrete balustrade. On July 16, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the Caminhos de Ferro avenue was under construction, beginning in front of the General Offices building and ending near the Barreiro-Mar station, an improvement that had been requested for many years. A decree dated 3 June 1936, issued by the General Directorate of Railways, approved the notice for a contract for the construction and assembly of the new buildings necessary for the completion of the general workshops, which had been awarded to Sociedade de Construções Metálicas. The workshop complex included a machine depot, for maintenance of the rolling stock, which was equipped with a traffic circle. On 16 October 1936, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the Barreiro colliery was to be demolished. On 6 January 1937, the General Directorate of Railways issued various orders for contracts to purchase equipment for the Barreiro workshops: • Namely a machine to drill threads on locomotive switch spindles and wagon tensioners, plus seven milling cutters for the same machine to company Francisco José Simões Limitada. • To company Aços Finos Roeschling S. A.: 5 lathes with 1:200mm distance between points and with pit, 13 lathes of the same dimensions but without pict, a milling machine, and 415 milling cutters. The report of the General Directorate of Railways for 1938 recorded the expenditure of 3000 contos (1,000 million escudos) for improvement works at several stations, including the one in Barreiro.
1940s In 1941, several carriages produced by the American factory Budd, that used a new construction technique called tubular design, were assembled at Barreiro. In 1943, extension and remodeling works were carried out. In the mid-1940s, there were still problems in railway communications between the capital and the Algarve, mainly due to the slowness of the trains; fast trains took almost a whole day to reach Barreiro, while postal trains took all night to make the same journey, and after that, there was still a one-hour journey to cross the Tagus by boat. However, despite its inconveniences, traveling by train was still better than doing this route by road, as the roads were in poor condition and made travelling slower and uncomfortable.
1950s With the progressive electrification of the railway network in the north and center of the country, starting in the 1950s, several locomotives were relegated to the lines in the south of the country, being assigned to the Barreiro depot. Among the series that suffered this process were the 1500 and
1300, both diesel, Between 1954 and 1955, the interiors, bogies, and brakes of several carriages, whose boxes were built by the French company Carel et Fouché, were assembled in the Barreiro workshops. On 19 March 1959,
Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo was contracted to build 2 boats for the river services between Lisbon and Barreiro, as part of the Second Incentive Plan.
1960s and 1970s In the 1960s, the new boats between Lisbon and Barreiro began service. They were equipped with radars that improved safety conditions and traffic management on that route. On September 15, 1966, the suspension of freight transport by boat between Barreiro and Lisbon was approved, which was now done by road and rail. On 16 August 1968, the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro reported that the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses was preparing a major program to remodel its railroads, including the complete renovation of the section between Barreiro and Faro, via Setúbal. In 1969, several wooden carriages were metalized in the Barreiro workshops, creating the B600 Series. From the late 1960s, there was a large increase in the number of women on the staff of the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses, which began a program to build nursery schools at its stations, including Barreiro. In a 1968 article in the
Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro, it was predicted that the Seixal Branch Line would soon be closed, and its service would be replaced by a river line between Barreiro and Seixal. In 1977, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses was nationalized, and renamed Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses. In that year, a single-class system was implemented on several suburban lines, including on the route between Barreiro and Praias - Sado. The new station was located to the east of the old one so that it would be closer to the river terminal. With the commissioning of the new station, the old railway terminal was closed and went into abandonment, a situation that was criticized by the Barreiro City Council in 2010, as they wanted to preserve the structure. The city council communicated the decision to preserve and redevelop the old station building, highlighting the symbolic value of this infrastructure in the city's railway history. At that time, the municipality was drafting an urbanization plan that could bring changes to the station area. == In literature ==