The Coa halt (name previously spelled as Côa, changed after the halt's closure), is a closed interface of 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). Construc ...

, which used to serve the town of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, in the Guarda District, in Portugal. The halt started operating on 5 May 1887, and was closed in 2 October 1988.

Description

Location and access

This station is located in the municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa, about 3.5 km from the town center, via the Coa road.

Physical characterization

The passenger building is located on the west side of the track (right-hand side of the uphill direction, towards

Barca d'Alva Barca d'Alva is a Portuguese village located in the municipality of Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, north of the Guarda District. Barca d'Alva is also located inside the Douro International Natural Park and less than 1 km away from the Port ...

). This and the other remaining infrastructures are abandoned and in a poor state of repair with the roof of the halt having collapsed likely in the last years of the

1990s File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War ...

History

19th century

The section between the stations of

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 wit ...

and Côa was opened for operation on 5 May 1887, and the next section, to

, was inaugurated on 9 December 1887.

20th century

In 1901, a technical brigade was studying a link between this station and Estrada Real No. 34 (current EN222). However, in 1932 it still had no road access. In 1939, the Portuguese Railway Company carried out repair work on the Côa station building.

Connections to other lines

In 1897, a bill was presented authorizing the government to call for tenders for several railway lines and branches, including a link between the Douro and

Beira Alta Beira Alta may refer to: * Beira Alta Province, a province in the north of Portugal * Beira Alta (region) Beira Alta was one of the 13 regions of continental Portugal identified by geographer Amorim Girão, in a study published between 1927 and 193 ...

lines, following the valleys of the Távora and

Coa Coa may refer to: Places * Coa, County Fermanagh, a rural community in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland * Côa River, a tributary of the Douro, Portugal ** Battle of Coa, part of the Peninsular War period of the Napoleonic Wars ** Côa Vall ...

rivers. In the General Railway Network Plan, published by Decree No. 18:190, of 28 March 1930, one of the projects introduced was the Côa line, on a narrow gauge track, which was to start at Pocinho, where it would connect to the Sabor line, and end at Idanha-a-Nova, where it would be continued by the Sertã line, as far as Nazaré. This Côa Line was supposed to pass through Pinhel, Guarda, Sabugal and Penamacor.PORTUGAL
Decreto n.º 18:190
de 28 de Março de 1930. ''Ministério do Comércio e Comunicações - Direcção Geral de Caminhos de Ferro - Divisão Central e de Estudos - Secção de Expediente'', Publicado na Série I do Diário do Governo n.º 83, de 10 de Abril de 1930. In 1950, it was also planned to build a line between Côa and

Vila Franca das Naves Vila may refer to: People *Vila (surname) Places Andorra * Vila, Andorra, a town in the parish of Encamp Brazil * Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, a municipality in the State of Mato Grosso * Vila Boa, Goiás, a municipality in the State of ...

(on the Beira Alta line), although this route was considered difficult to build, so the journalist José da Guerra Maio suggested that the branch line should end at Vilar Formoso, since the Ribacoa plateau could be used, which had easier terrain. This branch line between Côa (

) and the Beira Alta line would provide an alternative rail link to the Maria Pia Bridge, on the Linha do Norte, and to the Barca d'Alva–La Fuente de San Esteban railway line. In fact, the latter was already in decline, depriving Porto of a direct connection to Salamanca, which could be restored via the other international line, to Vilar Formoso, if the Côa line was built.

Closure

In 1985, Côa already had the category of halt, having been downgraded previously. In 1988, the section between

and

was closed, including this interface.REIS ''et al'', 2006:150

Bibliography

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References

{{reflist Disused railway stations in Portugal

1887 establishments in Portugal 1988 disestablishments in Portugal Railway stations opened in 1887 Railway stations closed in 1988 Railway stations in Portugal opened in the 19th century