Narrow-gauge railways in Portugal
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Portugal formerly had several hundred kilometres of
narrow-gauge railways A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
, but by 2010 only two lines were still in operation – the Vouga line and the
Metro de Mirandela The Metropolitano Ligeiro de Mirandela or simply Metro de Mirandela was a metre gauge suburban rail service in Mirandela Municipality, northern Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), ...
. The lines were operated by Comboios de Portugal and maintained by
REFER Refer or referral may refer to: *Reference, a relation of designation or linking between objects **Word-sense disambiguation, when a single term may refer to multiple meanings *Referral marketing, to personally recommend, endorse, and pass a perso ...
(or the predecessor CP).


History

The majority of railway lines in Portugal were built to . To reduce construction costs, some lines (notably in rural and mountainous parts of the country) were built to narrow gauge. Portugal's narrow gauge railways were largely built to
metre gauge Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre. The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
. The lines were mostly constructed from the 1880s onwards, with the final line not completed until as late as 1949. The first major wave of closures took place in the 1980s, notably the Sabor line and the
Dão line Dao, Dão or DAO may refer to: * Tao (Chinese: "The Way" 道), a philosophical concept * Dao (Chinese sword) (刀), a type of Chinese sword * Dao (Naga sword), a weapon and a tool of Naga people People and language * Yao people, a minority ethnic ...
. The northern extremities of the Corgo, Tâmega and Tua lines (all running north from 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 ...
through the Douro Valley) were closed in 1990/1, with the rest of these lines closing in 2008/9.


Operational lines

* Vouga Line (Linha do Vouga) is the sole remaining narrow-gauge line still classified as part of the Portuguese National Rail Network. The Vouga Railway network originally had three sections, a main line, between Espinho and Sernada do Vouga, and two branch lines, one to Viseu and the other to Aveiro, both starting at Sernada where the workshops are located. Since the mid-1970s, the network was under constant threat of closure, especially due to the poor infrastructure condition. Closure would eventually come to the Viseu branch on the 1st of January 1990, with the remaining line continuing under constant threat of closure throughout the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s (the line was almost closed at the hight of the European debt crisis). Passenger services in the core section between Sernada do Vouga and Oliveira de Azeméis ceased in the mid-2010s, due to low ridership numbers and poor infrastructure conditions which limit the maximum speed to only 10 km/h. As of 2021, the future of the line is less uncertain with the EU economic recovery package financing the infrastructure overhaul. Comboios de Portugal operates a regular passenger service on two routes: Aveiro to Sernada and Espinho to Oliveira de Azeméis, using a fleet of seven 2 car 9630 Series DMUs. CP also provides seasonal heritage services between Aveiro and Macinhata do Vouga (where a small railway museum occupies the former carriages shed) using either steam (only in winter due to wild fire risk) or diesel locomotives with 1900s or 1930s cars. *
Linha do Tua 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 hi ...
is closed, but the section between
Mirandela Mirandela () is a city and a municipality in northeastern Portugal. The city itself has a population of about 15,000. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 23,850, in an area of 658.96 km². Mirandela is famous for its cuisine, part ...
and Brunheda is planned to be reopened. Until 1991 the line extended to Bragança, but was then closed north of Mirandela. The
Metro de Mirandela The Metropolitano Ligeiro de Mirandela or simply Metro de Mirandela was a metre gauge suburban rail service in Mirandela Municipality, northern Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), ...
operated over a short part of the line until 2018; the rest of the line closed in 2008.


Closed lines or converted to broad gauge


Closed in the 20th Century

*
Dão line Dao, Dão or DAO may refer to: * Tao (Chinese: "The Way" 道), a philosophical concept * Dao (Chinese sword) (刀), a type of Chinese sword * Dao (Naga sword), a weapon and a tool of Naga people People and language * Yao people, a minority ethnic ...
: this line ran between Santa Comba Dão and Viseu. It was closed to freight in 1972 and passengers in 1988. *Penafiel to Lixa and Entre-os-Rios line: this line, which met the
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 ...
at Penafiel, closed in the late 1920s after less than 20 years of service. * Sabor line: this line ran from
Pocinho Pocinho is a village in northern Portugal, located in the Vila Nova de Foz Côa Municipality. The Pocinho Dam and the River Douro are nearby. Pocinho railway station is the eastern terminus of the Douro railway line; the community developed w ...
to Duas Igrejas, passing through very rural areas in the north-east of the country. The line closed in 1988.


Closed in the 21st Century

* Tâmega line: this line ran between Livração and Amarante in the District of Oporto, near the River Tâmega. In 1949 the line was extended 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 ...
; it was projected that the line would continue along Tâmega river valley until Chaves and Corgo line, but this extension was never built. The section between Amarante and Arco de Baúlhe closed in 1990. The remaining part of the line closed in 2009. * Corgo line: this line ran from Regua, on the Douro River to Vila Real. The line previously ran further north to Chaves (until 1990). The line closed in 2009. There is a small Railway Museum at Chaves.


Converted to broad gauge

* Guimarães line: this line (Oporto-Guimarães-Fafe) was built as a metre-gauge line. It closed between
Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCWorld Heritage Sitesince 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved and a ...
and Fafe in 1986; the trackbed was converted into a cycle way. The rest of the Guimarães line (west of Guimarães to Oporto) was
converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...
to broad in 2004.


Converted to standard gauge (metro)

* Porto to Póvoa and Famalicão line: this formed the basis of the narrow-gauge section of Porto's suburban railway system, starting from Trindade station in Porto along with the Guimarães line. The narrow-gauge lines are no longer in operation, but part of the trackbed of this system has been rebuilt for use by the Porto Metro.


Rolling stock

The narrow-gauge lines were
steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
-operated, predominantly by
Mallet locomotives The Mallet locomotive is a type of articulated steam railway locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919). The front of the locomotive articulated on a bogie. The compound steam system fed steam at boiler pressur ...
, for much of their existence. Diesel railcars were introduced as an economy measure in the 1940s, notably the Série 9100 built in Sweden for the Tâmega line in 1949 and the Dutch-built Série 9300 railcars used on several other lines from the early 1950s onwards. The Série 9700 diesel multiple units were purchased secondhand from the
Yugoslav Railways Yugoslav Railways ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Jugoslavenske željeznice/Jugoslovenske železnice, Југославенске жељезнице/Југословенске железнице; mk, Југословенски железници; sl, Jugoslovans ...
in 1980, but frequently proved unreliable. Metre-gauge diesel locomotives were built to replace steam haulage, especially on freight or mixed trains, notably the Série 9020 built in 1976. Steam remained in use on some lines until the 1980s.


Trams

The tram system in Lisbon, operated by
Carris Carris (''Companhia Carris de Ferro de Lisboa'') (Lisbon Tramways Company) is a public transportation company in Lisbon, Portugal. Carris operates Lisbon's buses, trams, and funiculars. It does not operate the Lisbon Metro. Carris was founded Sep ...
, is also narrow gauge – with a track gauge.


See also

*
FEVE Renfe Feve is a division of state-owned Spanish railway company Renfe Operadora. It operates most of Spain's of railway. This division of Renfe was previously a stand-alone company named FEVE (Ferrocarriles de Vía Estrecha,Law 11/1965 of 2 ...
(narrow-gauge railways in Spain) * History of rail transport in Portugal * List of Portuguese locomotives and railcars * Rail transport in Portugal


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links

{{Europe in topic, Narrow-gauge railways in Railway lines in Portugal Portugal transport-related lists