Póvoa de Varzim is a light rail station on the

Porto Metro The Porto Metro () is a light rail network in Porto, Portugal and a key part of the city's public transport system. Having a semi-metro alignment, it runs underground in central Porto and above ground into the city's suburbs while using low-fl ...

system, and a former railway station on the Porto to Póvoa and Famalicão line. It is located in the municipality of Póvoa de Varzim,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Today the station is the terminus of line B of the Metro, which provides a direct connection to the centre of the city of Porto. It was originally opened in 1875, closed in 2002, and reopened as a Metro station in 2006.

History

The original railway station was built on the former

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Porto to Póvoa and Famalicão line. This station was opened on 1 October 1875 as the northern terminus of the line from , originally built to a gauge of . The line was extended, in stages, beyond Póvoa de Varzim, reaching its ultimate terminal at on 12 June 1881. In 1927 the railway line was re-gauged from 900mm to , and in 1938 it was extended from Porto-Boavista station to Porto-Trindade station, nearer the centre of Porto. In the same time period, a plan was drawn up to modify Póvoa de Varzim station, in order to accommodate both a connection to the town's fishing port, and a future extension of the Póvoa Line to Fão. However, these works never began. In 1995 the line to Famalicão was abandoned, returning Póvoa de Varzim to its status as a terminal. The old narrow gauge station closed on 24 February 2002, as part of the preparations for the creation of the

, which uses much of the track-bed of the old line. The new Porto Metro station was opened on 18 March 2006 as the terminus of the extension of line B from .

Services

Póvoa de Varzim is the terminus of line B but, because of its distance from central Porto, two different services operate over the line. The basic line B service stops at all stations between Póvoa de Varzim and

Senhora da Hora Senhora da Hora () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Matosinhos in the Greater Porto area, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish São Mamede de Infesta e Senhora da Hora. It was promoted from town (''vila'') to c ...

, whilst the express Bx service stops only at principal stations. Both services observe all stops within the metropolitan area between Senhora da Hora and

Estádio do Dragão The Estádio do Dragão (; ') is an all-seater football stadium in Porto, Portugal, and the home ground of FC Porto since 2003. It has a seating capacity of 50,033, making it the third-largest football stadium in Portugal. Designed by Portugue ...

. The next station after departure is for the B, and for the Bx. On weekdays during the day, both services provide two trains per hour in both directions, thus providing four trains per hour in both directions between Póvoa de Varzim and Porto. At weekends and in the evenings only the basic service runs and provides two or three trains per hour in both directions. The basic service takes just over an hour between Póvoa de Varzim and Estádio do Dragão, with the express service saving some 10 minutes. The platforms are at ground level, with three terminal tracks served by a

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms, ...

and an

island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...

, and a further storage track unserved by a platform. There is level access is from Rua Almirante Reis. The original station building of the old narrow gauge line still exists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Póvoa de Varzim station Porto Metro stations Railway stations in Portugal opened in 1875 Railway stations in Portugal closed in 2002 Railway stations in Portugal opened in 2006