The new Carris 203 route crosses the city of Lisbon, linking Belém to Xabregas. It passes through Alcântara, Estrela, Campo de Ourique, Campolide, Saldanha, Arroios and Penha de França. And it serves the Ajuda University Campus.
Lisbon has a new night bus route. Carris has revived the career 203In its new life, it will connect Restelo to Xabregas, passing through Ajuda (including the University Pole), Alcântara, Estrela, Campo de Ourique, Campolide, Saldanha, Arroios and Penha de França. With 30-minute frequencies, runs between midnight and 6 a.m..
The 203 route had already existed in the past, as part of the Carris Madrugada Network, but was abolished between 2011 and 2022 by the Passos Coelho government and the Troika. At the time, the 203 connected Boa Hora, in Ajuda, to the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), in Chelas. The route of the "203 original" and the route of the "new 203", which has now entered circulation, is not very different: the new 203 also runs along the so-called first ring road of the city, but on the western side it goes beyond Boa Hora, reaching the University Pole of Ajuda and Restelo; on the eastern side, it stays by Xabregas, in the riverside area, not reaching Chelas.
The new route 203 is the only one of the current Rede da Madrugada that doesn't depart from Cais do Sodré, but its function is precisely to distribute passengers throughout the city's urban fabric, between the western and eastern parts. From Restelo, more specifically from Rua Tristão Vaz, the 203 goes in the direction of Pólo Universitário da Ajuda and follows the 742 to Calvário; from here it follows Avenida 24 de Julho and goes up Avenida Infante Santo to Estrela, imitating the 738 or 720 routes. From Estrela, it passes through Prazeres, Campo de Ourique, arrives at Campolide, continues to Saldanha via the top of Parque Eduardo VII and São Sebastião, continues to Praça do Chile, in Arroios, goes up Rua Morais Soares, passing Paiva Couceiro and Alto de São João, and from here goes down to Xabregas.
The 203 connects to the 201 line at Alcântara (which takes you to Cais do Sodré), the 202 line at Campolide, the 207 line at Saldanha, the 206 and 208 lines (which connect to the airport) at Praça do Chile and the 210 line at Xabregas (which passes through Oriente). The 203 runs every 30 minutes, with the first departure from Restelo and Xabregas at midnight and the last at 5.30am. Each bus takes about an hour to make the whole journey.
The Carris dawn network was created in 1998 with nine routes, but between 2011 and 2012, during the government of Passos Coelho and the Troika, there were cuts and changes justified by a lack of demand. Of the nine routes, only six remain. In addition to the 203, the 204, which ran from Oriente to Belém, via Telheiras and Benfica, and the 205, which ran from Cais do Sodré to Carnide, were abolished. Now, with the return of the 203, Carris now has seven night routes. The 201, 202, 206, 207, 208 and 210 all leave from Cais do Sodré:
- a 201 goes to Alcântara, Belém, Algés and Linda-a-Velha (Oeiras);
- a 202 goes to Rato, Campolide, Sete Rios, Benfica and Bairro Padre Cruz;
- a 206 goes to Santa Apolónia, Penha de França, Praça do Chile, Alameda, Areeiro, Alvalade, Alta de Lisboa, Lumiar and Senhor Roubado (Odivelas);
- a 207 goes to Rossio, Marquês de Pombal, Saldanha, Campo Pequeno, Campo Grande, Lumiar and Fetais (Loures);
- a 208 goes to Praça da Figueira, Martim Moniz, Praça do Chile, Alameda, Areeiro, Bela Vista, Chelas, Olivais, Aeroporto, Oriente.
- a 210 goes to Santa Apolónia, Xabregas, Beato, Poço do Bispo, Olivais and Oriente.
The 203 was launched on the night of November 30 to December 1. However, at the time of writing this article (on the 5th), the new route is not available on the Carris website, nor in applications such as Google Maps or CityMapper. For example, when you search for 203 on the Carris website, the search returns no results:
