Douro railway line

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Pinhão station on the Douro line
Freight train near Valeira on the Douro line, September 2008
Tua station on the Douro line: a Série 1400 locomotive heading a passenger train (left) passing a freight train headed by a Série 1960 (right)

The Douro line (in Portuguese: Linha do Douro) is a railway in northern Portugal. For much of its route the line runs close to the Douro River, offering very scenic views of the river and valley. Trains on the line are operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP).

Construction

Section between stations Distance Date of opening
Ermesinde – Penafiel30.311 km 29 July 1875
Penafiel – Caíde07.328 km20 December 1875
Caíde – Juncal18.818 km15 September 1878
Juncal – Peso da Régua38.371 km15 July 1879
Peso da Régua – Ferrão15.813 km4 April 1880
Ferrão – Pinhão07.611 km1 June 1880
Pinhão – Tua12.993 km1 September 1883
Tua – Pocinho31.678 km10 January 1887
Pocinho – Côa09.061 km5 May 1887
Côa – Barca D’Alva - Spanish border18.882 km9 December 1887

Route

From west to east, the line runs from the junction at Ermesinde to Pocinho. The line formerly continued east for a further 28 kilometres to the Spanish border. Until 1984, the track continued onwards into Spain, thus allowing through trains to/from Salamanca.

Passenger trains normally run from São Bento station in Porto to Pocinho, with some not running as far as the eastern terminus. The line is built to the Iberian gauge of 1668mm. The line is single track, apart from a double track section between Ermesinde and Valongo (the authorisation for the dualling work was given by CP in 1993).[1]

In 1984, the Spanish rail operator RENFE announced the closure of its connecting line from La Fuente de San Esteban to the Portuguese border. With the loss of international traffic, CP had to close its line east of Barca d'Alva to Spain. The service was cut back to Pocinho in 1988, which has since remained the eastern terminus of the Douro line.[2]

Branch lines

There were formerly five metre gauge branch lines connecting with the Douro line, but the last of these closed in 2009. Geographically, from west to east they were:

  • The Penafiel to Lixa and Entre-os-Rios lines, which closed in the 1920s after less than 20 years of service
  • The Tâmega line, which closed in 2009 and ran north from a junction with Douro line at Livração
  • The Corgo line, which closed in 2009 and ran north from a junction with Douro line at Regua
  • The Tua line, which closed in 2008 and ran north from a junction with Douro line at Tua
  • The Sabor line, which closed in 1988 and ran north-east from a junction with Douro line at Pocinho

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ http://www.linhadodouro.net/historia.php
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