Presidential Train Ministers Saloon

The Presidential Train is one of the most emblematic pieces of the Museum and of railway history in Portugal. This special train served the Heads of State and their entourages on their travels around the country, between 1910 and 1970. Heir to the vehicles acquired in the late 19th century for the so-called Royal Trains (a set of vehicles that transported the Royal Family), it underwent various changes and additions in order to comfortably accommodate Presidents of the Republic. Between 1910 and 1930, the Presidential Train included the Royal saloon, the Ministers saloon and the Restaurant saloon, built in 1890 by the French manufacturer Désouches David.
In 1930, the Companhia dos Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses acquired a new vehicle for the Head  of State from Linke-Hoffmann Busch. In 1940, on the occasion of the Commemoration of the Founding of Portugal, the train was renovated and the three initial saloons were transformed internally and externally, in order to create a more coherent formation around the style of the recently acquired saloon. A guard’s van (intended for the transportation of luggage) and a 1st Class coach (designed to transport delegations of national and foreign journalists and reporters who accompanied presidential trips) were added to the set. The formation thus consisted of six vehicles: the Head of State saloon, Ministers saloon, Committee and Security Saloon, the Restaurant Saloon, the journalists' coach and the Guard’s van.
The Presidential Train ceased service in 1970. The saloons were placed in store in different parts of the country, some protected in the former museum sections of CP or adapted for other functions. This was the case of the Ministers saloon, which was incorporated in the Emergency Train for two decades. Between the end of 2010 and February 2013, the Presidential Train was the target of an unprecedented conservation and restoration project in Portugal. The operating conditions and appearance of the historic formation were restored and thus, it was able to return to the rails of the national railway network.