Lisbon, July 1, 2025 (Lusa) - Last year, the Lisbon Metro transported nearly 177 million passengers, recording a recovery in demand compared to 2023, with an increase of 6.5%.
The accounts report submitted to the Securities Market Commission contains the information, and it reports that the commission carried a total of 176,727,284 passengers in 2024.
This figure is the sum of passengers with valid tickets (171,898,118, up 6.3% on 2023) and cases of fraud (fare evasion), which amounted to 4,829,166 (up 18.1%).
According to the report, the impact on demand stems from the entry into force of two free travel measures for young people from 1 January 2024: the Navegante pass, in the under-18+TP and under-23+TP categories, became completely free for all students up to the age of 23.
On 1 December 2024, authorities extended free travel to all young people up to the age of 23.
In terms of paid tickets, there was an 8.3% increase. Compared to the estimate included in the Activity and Budget Plan (PAO), there was a 3.1% increase in passengers with paid tickets and a 1.4% increase in total passengers.
In terms of service provision, ongoing work on the new Railway Signalling System and the Circular Line expansion project required a refined service, which influenced demand.
“We closed sections and stations on the Green and Yellow lines during the period from 3 August to 19 August, and the constraints associated with the development of these investments meant that demand figures were less significant.” In the last two months of the year, three partial strikes impacted the service and consequently demand figures: the strikes on 6 November, 14 November and 3 December began when services started and lasted until 10:00 a.m.,” the report said.
According to the report, in 2024, the fleet offered an average of 95.3 trains for public service during the morning rush hour on weekdays, meeting the maximum daily requirement of 91 trains and representing a 3% increase compared to the same period last year.
In terms of the main infrastructure, and following the change in the signalling system (CBTC), “technical performance levels improved compared with 2023”.
In some months, monthly unavailability exceeded the maximum established value of four hours per month across the entire network, with an average value of 3.44 hours throughout the year.
In terms of the reliability of the main infrastructure, the average time between failures was 96 hours, providing an opportunity to narrow the gap to the quality targets set for this infrastructure.
Regarding human resources, in 2024, Metro de Lisboa continued the process initiated in 2018 of recruiting new staff for the commercial and maintenance areas, as well as senior technicians.
“The group said that, with the approval of the PAO for the 2024 financial year, it extended the deadline for hiring 53 workers, and filling these vacancies […] will enable the group to hold internal competitions to train drivers, reinforcing the plans inherent in the Network Expansion Plan.”
However, the organisation processed only 25 admissions during the year under the authorisation to increase the workforce, responding to the shortage of professionals in the market and the high salary expectations of qualified technicians.
Including replacement hires, the total number of new employees amounted to 40: 13 traffic agents, 13 senior technicians, two construction inspectors, and 12 maintenance officers.
The Lisbon Metro operates four lines: Yellow (Rato-Odivelas), Green (Telheiras-Cais do Sodré), Blue (Reboleira-Santa Apolónia) and Red (Aeroporto-São Sebastião). The metro normally runs between 6:30 a.m. and 1 a.m.
RCP/ADB // ADB.
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