Alternative road transport will be provided from today during the interruption period, stopping at locations considered “most suitable” for boarding and alighting passengers.
During this period, CP services will be operated by direct buses between Caíde in the Porto district and Régua (a journey that may take one hour and 20 minutes) and buses stopping at all stations between Marco de Canaveses and Régua (which can take about two hours and 15 minutes).
In the replacement road service, travel times can vary depending on weather and traffic conditions.
Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) and Comboios de Portugal (CP), in a joint statement released on October 24, explained that the route was defined in coordination with local municipalities.
They also mentioned that the interruption is necessary, particularly for executing structural reinforcement work and lowering the railway platform in six tunnels as part of the Douro Line modernization project.
The project involves the improvement, structural reinforcement, and lowering of the railway platform in the six existing tunnels along this section, with particular focus on the intervention in the Juncal Tunnel, the second largest in the National Railway Network, spanning 1,624 meters.
According to the two companies, the work was scheduled for the winter period, between November and March, as it corresponds to the low demand season for the railway service, both by regular passengers and tourists, thus minimizing the impact of the suspension of circulation.
The project plans the complete electrification of the section, approximately 47 kilometers, was contracted for 110.7 million euros, and the work is expected to take three years (36 months).
Currently, the electrification of the Douro Line is completed up to Marco de Canaveses.
The Douro Railway Line connects Porto to Pocinho (171.522 kilometers), and for several years, there has been advocacy for the electrification of the entire route, as well as the reopening of the section between Pocinho (Vila Nova de Foz Côa) and Barca d’Alva (Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo), deactivated in 1988.
