LISBON — The yellow trams that rattle up Lisbon’s hills were supposed to be retired decades ago. Instead, the city is laying new track.
City officials said this month that three routes removed in the 1990s will be restored by 2028, part of a plan to cut car traffic in the historic center by a third. “The tram is not nostalgia. It is the right size for these streets,” said Joana Ribeiro, the city’s deputy mayor for mobility.
The trams are already among the city’s most photographed sights, and that is part of the problem. On the busiest routes, residents say, tourists fill cars before they reach local stops.
“I love the tram. I just can’t get on it,” said Manuel Costa, 71, who has lived in the Alfama district his whole life.
The city says it will add residents-only cars at peak hours on the most crowded lines.
