The Tâmega line ''(Linha do Tâmega)'' was a railway line in northern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. It closely followed the course of the

Tâmega River Tâmega may refer to: * Tâmega River, in Spain and Portugal * Tâmega Subregion, Portugal * Guilherme Tâmega, six time world bodyboarding champion * List of ships of the Portuguese Navy#Destroyers, ''Tamega'', a Portuguese Navy destroyer {{dab, ...

. It closed in 2009.

History

The southern part of the line opened in 1909; it ran between Livração (the junction with the main

Douro line 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). Constructio ...

) and Amarante in the

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Oporto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, near the River Tâmega. The line was eventually opened as far north as

Arco de Baúlhe ARCO ( ) is a brand of gasoline stations currently owned by Marathon Petroleum after BP sold its rights. BP commercializes the brand in Northern California, Oregon and Washington, while Marathon has rights for the rest of the United States an ...

in 1949, the last such extension to Portugal's narrow gauge railway network. Livração station was a junction with the main

Douro Valley The Comunidade Intermunicipal do Douro () is an administrative division in Portugal. It replaced the ''Comunidade Urbana do Douro'', created in 2004. It takes its name from the Douro River. The seat of the intermunicipal community is Vila Real. D ...

railway line; it is still served by CP's trains to and from

. Train services were operated by

Comboios de Portugal CP — Comboios de Portugal, EPE (''CP''; English: ''Trains of Portugal'') is a state-owned company which operates passenger trains in Portugal. Before June 2009, CP stood for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (English: ''Portuguese Railways'') ...

(CP); the three Série 9100 diesel railcars were built in 1949 by the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

company

NOHAB NOHAB (Nydqvist & Holm AB) was a manufacturing company based in the city of Trollhättan, Sweden. History The company was founded by Antenor Nydqvist, Johan Magnus Lidström and Carl Olof Holm in 1847 as ''Trollhättans Mekaniska Verkstad'' as ...

specifically for use on the Tâmega line. They continued in service until 2002 (when replaced by Série 9500 units, purchased secondhand from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

). CP Série 9020 diesel locomotives were also used on the line.

Closure

The northern section of the line, between Amarante and Arco de Baúlhe, closed in 1990. Arco de Baúlhe station was served by trains for little over 40 years. The remaining part of the line south of Amarante closed in 2009 - ostensibly due to the need for urgent repair work. The Strategic Transport Plan, published by the Portuguese Government in October 2011, showed that the Tâmega line required the highest level of subsidy (at €2.50 per passenger per kilometre) of any railway in Portugal and thus the line was listed for permanent closure. On 1 January 2012 the replacement bus service was also withdrawn.CP press release confirming the closure of the line
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Other narrow gauge railways in the Douro Valley

Corgo line The Corgo line ''(Linha do Corgo)'' was a railway line in northern Portugal. It closed in 2009. It ran north from Régua (a junction station on the main Douro railway line running along the Douro Valley) to Vila Real and Chaves. The lin ...

''- closed 2009'' *

Sabor line The Sabor line ''(Linha do Sabor)'' was a railway in north-east Portugal. It ran for nearly 106 km between Pocinho and Duas Igrejas, near Miranda do Douro. It closed in 1988. History The Sabor line served a very rural part of the country, follo ...

''- closed 1988'' *

Tua line The Tua line was a metre gauge railway line in northern Portugal, which connected Tua to Bragança. The line was opened in 1887 and closed in 2018. The section from Mirandela to Brunheda is planned to be reopened in 2019. History This hig ...

''- closed 2008''

References

{{Railway lines in Portugal Railway lines in Portugal Metre gauge railways in Portugal Railway lines opened in 1909 Railway lines closed in 2009

History

Closure

Other narrow gauge railways in the Douro Valley

See also

References