The Corgo line ''()'' was a railway line in northern

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 ...

. 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 Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...

and Chaves. The line was latterly operated by

Comboios de Portugal CP — Comboios de Portugal, EPE (; ) is a state-owned company which operates passenger trains in Portugal. Prior to June 2009, CP stood for Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (English: ''Portuguese Railways'') although the company has been using it ...

Early years

The section from Régua (also known as Peso da Régua) to Vila Real was opened in 1906. The extension to Chaves was built in stages, but not completed until 1921. The distance from Regua to Chaves was 97 kilometres. The first short section of track north from Regua was dual gauged (including a large metal girder bridge over the Corgo River), shared with the main

Iberian gauge Iberian gauge (, ) is a track gauge of , most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal. A broad gauge, it is the second-widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world, with only Indian gauge railways, , being wider (by ). As ...

Douro railway line. In its early years the line was operated by the CF do Estado (State Railways). Following privatisation of the CF do Estado in 1928, the line came under the Companhia Nacional (CN) until taken over by the CP in 1947. CP introduced economy measures, such as diesel railcars and eventually diesel locomotives in place of steam traction (notably a small fleet of Mallet locomotives built by

Henschel Henschel & Son () was a German company, located in Kassel, best known during the 20th century as a maker of transportation equipment, including locomotives, trucks, buses and trolleybuses, and armoured fighting vehicles and weapons. Georg C ...

Final years and closure

The Corgo line was steam operated until the 1970s, with steam shunting engines continuing in limited use until the 1980s. The introduction of the Série 9000 and later the Série 9020 diesel locomotives replaced steam working on the line. In 1982 the line featured in an episode of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series Great Little Railways. Due to road improvements and falling passenger numbers, the northern section of the line between Vila Real and Chaves was closed in 1990. On 25 March 2009 the remaining service on the line (between Regua and Vila Real) was suspended due to the condition of the track. Repairs were promised and the line was expected to reopen by 2011. In practice, due to budgetary constraints, the repairs have not been forthcoming and the replacement bus service was itself withdrawn with effect from 1 January 2012.Comboios de Portugal
CP press release confirming the closure of the line
/ref> The tracks were lifted from Vila Real station by 2011.

Other narrow gauge railways in the Douro Valley

* Sabor line - closed 1988 * Tâmega line - closed 2009 *

Tua line The Tua line was a metre gauge railway line in northern Portugal, which connected Tua railway station, Tua to Bragança railway station, Bragança. The line was opened in 1887 and closed in 2018. The section from Mirandela railway station, Mi ...

- closed 2018

References

Railway lines in Portugal Metre-gauge railways in Portugal Railway lines closed in 2009 Railway lines opened in 1906 1906 establishments in Portugal {{Portugal-transport-stub

Early years

Final years and closure

Other narrow gauge railways in the Douro Valley

See also

References