Portuguese Railway Company

Portuguese Railway Company
Native name
Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses
FormerlyCompanhia Real dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (Royal Company of Portuguese Railways)
Company typeS.A.
IndustryRail transport
PredecessorCentral Peninsular Railway Company of Portugal
FoundedMay 11, 1860; 164 years ago (1860-05-11) in Portugal
FounderJosé de Salamanca y Mayol
DefunctApril 15, 1975 (1975-04-15)
FateNationalised by the Portuguese state
SuccessorComboios de Portugal
Headquarters
Lisbon
,
Portugal
Areas served
Portugal, Spain
Key people
Pedro Inácio Lopes, Roberto de Espregueira Mendes

The Portuguese Railway Company (Portuguese: Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses) was the main railway operator in Portugal. Founded on 11 May 1860 by the Spanish businessman José de Salamanca y Mayol under the name Companhia Real dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses[1] (Royal Company of Portuguese Railways), it changed its name after the 5 October 1910 Revolution.[2] In the first half of the 20th century, it underwent a process of expansion, assimilating several private railway companies and the railways that had been under the management of the Portuguese government.[3] However, the effects of the Second World War, and the advance of road[4] and air transport[5] its economic situation deteriorated to such an extent that, after the Carnation revolution, the company had to be nationalised and transformed into a new institution, called Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses [Portuguese Railways].[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gazeta1681 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ OJANGUREN, Arturo E. Sanchez (December 1979). "Portugal se Esfuerza en la Modernizacion de sus Ferrocarriles". Via Libre (in Spanish). 16 (191): 16.
  3. ^ Os Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses 1856-2006, p. 63
  4. ^ Martins et al, 1996:63, 64
  5. ^ 100 Obras de Arquitectura Civil no Século XX, p. 107
  6. ^ Martins et al, 1996:70