Barca d'Alva – La Fuente de San Esteban railway line

Barca d'Alva – La Fuente de San Esteban
Route length:	77.5 km
Gauge :	1668 mm ( Iberian track )
Legend Linha do Douro by Pocinho Barca d'Alva Águeda , Portugal / Spain border La Fregeneda Froya Hinojosa de Douro Lumbrales Camaces Olmedo de Camaces-Cerralbo Bogajo Villavieja de Yeltes Yeltes Villares de Yeltes Boada Railway line 120 from Ciudad Rodrigo La Fuente de San Esteban-Boadilla Railway line 120 to Salamanca

The Barca d'Alva – La Fuente de San Esteban railway is an Iberian broad-gauge railway that connected the Linha do Douro to the Spanish railway network. Until the line was closed in 1985, passenger and freight trains ran there regularly.

In addition, the route served as a frequently used means of transport for the population of Trás-os-Montes to visit the numerous popular festivals on the Spanish side, including in La Fregeneda and Sobradillo .

description

The railway line had a length of 77.5 kilometers between Barca d'Alva and La Fuente de San Esteban - Boadilla and had at times up to nine stops. In the station of La Fuente de San Esteban-Boadilla, the line met the railway line 120 ( Vilar Formoso - Ciudad Rodrigo - Salamanca ), so that this was also often used by the Portuguese to continue to Salamanca, where the international trains Lisbon-Paris ( Sud- Express ) stopped.

In addition to brisk freight traffic on the route, there was also passenger traffic until 1984. Until 1913, the so-called "Comboio rápido de Medina", in English "Schnellzug von Medina", ran the route three times a week, an express train between the cities of Porto, Salamanca and Medina that took 11½ hours from terminus to terminus. The last trains on the line were the diesel-powered double multiple units of the 600 series of the then Caminhos-de-ferro Portugueses .

history

Planning and construction

On July 23, 1883, the Portuguese parliament decided, under pressure from numerous entrepreneurs from Porto and above all from the Portuguese bank, to tackle the extension of the Linha do Douro to the Portuguese border town of Barca d'Alva . At the same time, the search for financiers for the construction of the line from Barca d'Alva to La Fregeneda, part of the province of Léon, began on the Spanish side. The client was a company of several banks, which initially called itself Caminhos de Ferro de Salamanca a la Frontera Portuguesa , later it was renamed Compañía Nacional de los Ferrocarriles del Oeste .

After numerous difficulties in the construction planning, especially in the planning of the bridge over the Águeda river, construction work began in 1882. This turned out to be very difficult due to the demanding topography - the narrowest curve radius on the route was 300 meters, some inclines of 21 ‰ and on the most demanding 17 kilometers alone, 13 bridges and 20 tunnels.

After almost six years of construction, the line was opened on December 9, 1887, on the same day the Pocinho – Barca d'Alva section went into operation, making the Linha do Douro considered complete. With the opening, the direct train service between Porto and Salamanca began. With the opened connection line, the Linha do Douro received a direct connection to the rest of the European railway network.

Shutdown

Former Barca d'Alva train station (2009)

In 1984 the Spanish government decided to shut down the connection between La Fuente de San Esteban and La Fregeneda as part of a major railway savings plan, which also led to the suspension of trains between Barca d'Alva and La Fregeneda. The last train left on December 31, 1984.

In 1988, the same thing happened on the Portuguese side: the route between Pocinho and Barca d'Alva was not profitable after the lack of a connection to Spain and it was then discontinued. Since then, the Linha do Douro has only been operated from Ermesinde to Pocinho. Since the closure of the line between Barca d'Alva and La Fregenada on January 1, 1985, there have been and still are plans on the part of both the Portuguese and the Spanish to resume common train services.

Recommissioning plans

Locomotive shed at Barca d'Alva station with turntable (2017)

The Spanish part of the route has been under monument protection since 2000 ( Bien de Interés Cultural ).

In 2008 a Catalan organization announced that it would reopen the route for tourism purposes. In August 2009, the then Portuguese State Secretary for Transport, Ana Vitorino , announced that construction work on the line between Pocinho and Barca d'Alva would begin shortly. On September 10, 2009, the operator of the Portuguese rail network ( REFER ), the Portuguese state railway Comboios de Portugal , the Portuguese Institute for Port Affairs and Maritime Transport, the Development Commission for Northern Portugal and the Structural Staff Unit for the Douro Valley signed a declaration of intent with the aim of traffic between Pocinho and Barca d'Alva to resume and operate touristically. Nevertheless, no further activities were carried out until 2012.

Former La Fregeneda station (2011)

In 2011, the Todavía organization was founded with the aim of maintaining and reopening the route.

Web links

Commons : Barca d'Alva – La Fuente de San Esteban railway line  - collection of images

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} José Ribeiro da Silva and Manuel Ribeiro: Os comboios de Portugal - Volume I, 3rd edition March 2008, Terramar, Lisbon; Pages 150-157
2. ^ Francisco José Viegas: Comboios Portugueses - Uma Guia Sentimental, Círculo de Editores, Lisbon, 1988; Page 185
3. ↑ ^{a b} History of the Linha do Douro (Portuguese)
4. ↑ Royal Decree 1934/2000 of November 24, 2000 in the official Spanish publication bulletin (PDF; 37 kB)
5. ↑ Una sociedad catalana está dispuesta abrir la vía férrea de los Arribes Duero , [A Catalan organization wants to reopen the railway in the Upper Douro], Soitu.es, February 17, 2008
6. ↑ Ana Fragoso: Autarcas defendem que o comboio deve continuar até Salamanca  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , [Municipalities advocate train services to Salamanca], Público , August 26, 2009  
7. ↑ Eduardo Pinto: Comboios vão mesmo voltar a Barca de Alva , [Trains will really run to Barca de Alva again], Jornal de Notícias , 11 September 2009
8. ↑ Official website of "Todavía"