According to Fertagus, the concessionaire, the railway line that crosses the bridge has not only improved the flow of transport into and out of the city of Lisbon but has also avoided the emission of 780,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over the last 20 years.


The railway connection was inaugurated on 29 July 1999 and the first train took just over 10 minutes to connect Pragal, on the south bank, to Entrecampos, in Lisbon.


Fertagus also pointed out that it carries 83,000 passengers a day and that it has a punctuality rate of over 94 percent. In 2018 alone, 21 million users were transported.


Over a period of 20 years there has been no month in which Fertagus has failed to meet punctuality and regularity of service targets, the chief executive, Cristina Dourado, said.


The company, the first in Portugal to have female train drivers, currently has 168 employees, with an average age of 44 and 16 years of service.


From Fogueteiro to Entrecampos, the train takes 27 minutes, while the same journey made by car during the rush hour takes about an hour and a half, Lusa reported on 29 July 1999.


The railway crossing over the Tagus in Lisbon was an old idea: when the bridge was initially built in 1966, at the time of dictator, Oliveira Salazar, a tunnel of 600m (increased by more than 300m in 1999) was also built beneath the road tolls on the south side of the bridge which remained unused for 33 years until the train line opened.