Infraestruturas de Portugal invests €7.5 million in Linha do Vouga works between Espinho and Santa Maria da Feira

Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) has moved forward with a €7.5 million investment to refurbish the Linha do Vouga on the section between Espinho and Santa Maria da Feira. Even so, this is not yet the long-awaited, large-scale intervention that local leaders have been calling for, as they continue to argue for the “Vouguinha” to be linked to the Linha do Norte in Espinho and, in this way, fully integrated into the metropolitan network.

€7.5 million works on the Linha do Vouga between Espinho and Santa Maria da Feira

While acknowledging the value of the contract now getting under way, the municipalities served by the line have, for decades, been pressing for further upgrades.

Speaking to JN, the Mayor of Santa Maria da Feira, Amadeu Albergaria, noted that the project is fundamentally focused on refurbishing the line “in terms of safety”. “It is, of course, a necessary step to improve operating conditions on the Linha do Vouga,” said the Social Democrat. He added, however, that “it is important to clarify that this is not yet the structural modernisation that the municipalities in the region have long defended”.

Municipalities push for modernisation and a Linha do Norte connection in Espinho

According to Amadeu Albergaria, “what we have been defending is a broader intervention that ensures the line is modernised, making it a more competitive mobility alternative in the region, namely by restoring the connection to the Linha do Norte and integrating it into the mobility systems of the Porto Metropolitan Area”.

Back in September 2024, the mayors of the Associação dos Municípios de Terras de Santa Maria - Arouca, Oliveira de Azeméis, S. João da Madeira, Santa Maria da Feira, Vale de Cambra and Espinho - met with the Minister for Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz. During that meeting, the upgrading of the Linha do Vouga again featured among the issues raised by the local leaders, who viewed it as a strategic investment for the Porto Metropolitan Area, for the wider region and for the country.

Level crossings

In reply to JN, IP clarified that, as part of the works currently under way between Espinho and Santa Maria da Feira, “no automation of level crossings is planned”. It also stated that, on the Sernada do Vouga – Aveiro -Vouga stretch of the Linha do Vouga, there are currently 44 level crossings. Of these, 22 are already automated, nine are staffed, eight are unstaffed, two are pedestrian crossings and three are private.

However, in the same response to JN, Infraestruturas de Portugal said that “the launch of an investment is planned shortly, covering the automation of all public level crossings on this stretch, as well as the implementation of a new traffic management and signalling system”.

“With this investment, the aim is to strengthen rail and road safety, reduce the risk of accidents and modernise line operations, by improving railway control and circulation systems,” the public body concluded.