| Póvoa de Varzim | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Porto Metro station | |||||||||||||||
 The Porto Metro terminus. At the left is the old station building of the former narrow gauge railway. | |||||||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||||||
| Location | Povoa de Varzim Portugal | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 41°22′40.6″N 8°45′29.95″W / 41.377944°N 8.7583194°W / 41.377944; -8.7583194 | ||||||||||||||
| Line(s) |  | ||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform, 1 island platform | ||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 4 | ||||||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||||||
| Structure type | At Grade | ||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||||||
| Key dates | |||||||||||||||
| 1 October 1875 | Opened | ||||||||||||||
| 24 February 2002 | Closed | ||||||||||||||
| 18 March 2006 | Reopened | ||||||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Póvoa de Varzim is a light rail station on the Porto Metro 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. 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
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The original railway station was built on the former narrow gauge Porto to Póvoa and Famalicão line. This station was opened on 1 October 1875 as the northern terminus of the line from Porto-Boavista station [pt], originally built to a gauge of 900 mm (2 ft 11+7⁄16 in). The line was extended, in stages, beyond Póvoa de Varzim, reaching its ultimate terminal at Famalicão [pt] on 12 June 1881.
In 1927 the railway line was re-gauged from 900mm to 1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in), 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 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 Porto Metro, 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 Pedras Rubras [pt].
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, 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 next station after departure is São Brás [pt] for the B, and Portas Fronhas [pt] 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 and an island platform, 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
- ^ Schwandl, Robert. "UrbanRail.Net > Europe > Porto > Porto Metro". Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- Nono, Carlos (1 October 1950). "Efemérides ferroviárias" [Railway Milestones] (PDF). Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro (in Portuguese). 63 (1507): 353–354. Retrieved 27 December 2017 – via Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa.
- Torres, Carlos Manitto (16 March 1958). "A evolução das linhas portuguesas e o seu significado ferroviário" [The evolution of Portuguese lines and their railway significance] (PDF). Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro (in Portuguese). 71 (1686): 133–140. Retrieved 30 June 2014 – via Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa.
- "Troços de linhas férreas portuguesas abertas à exploração desde 1856, e a sua extensão" [Sections of Portuguese railway lines open to operation since 1856, and their extension] (PDF). Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro (in Portuguese). 69 (1652): 528–530. 16 October 1956. Retrieved 3 July 2013 – via Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa.
- Aguilar, Busquets de (1 June 1949). "A Evolução História dos Transportes Terrestres em Portugal" [Evolution History of Land Transport in Portugal] (PDF). Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro (in Portuguese). 62 (1475): 383–393. Retrieved 17 July 2014 – via Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa.
- ^ "Porto Metre Gauge System". The Restoration & Archiving Trust. Archived from the original on 3 December 2024. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
- Sousa, José Fernando de (16 March 1940). "Caminhos de Ferro e portos de mar" [Railways and sea ports] (PDF). Gazeta dos Caminhos de Ferro (in Portuguese). 52 (1254): 161–162. Retrieved 17 July 2014 – via Hemeroteca Digital de Lisboa.
- ^ "História" [History] (in European Portuguese). Metro do Porto, SA. Archived from the original on 4 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "Timetable" (PDF). Metro do Porto, SA. pp. 8–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 December 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2024.