The first ever hypermarket with bar code reading opens in Alfragide in 1988, while in the 1990s, more hypermarkets are open in Maia, Castelo Branco, Setúbal, Alverca, Santo Tirso, Gaia, Famalicão and Aveiro respectively.
The Northern Line was modernised to allow trains to run at 220 km/h between Lisbon-Alverca, Vila Franca de Xira–Santarém, Pombal–Alfarelos and Mealhada–Espinho, and to allow full use of the tilting to achieve speeds between 140–180 km/h in the remaining intermediate sections.