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Introduction
The Porto - Guimarães railway line

Porto suburban network

The Porto - Guimarães railway line is one of four urban lines which connect the city of Porto.  The others are Porto - Braga, Porto - Caíde and Porto - Aveiro. These lines have common systems of ticketing and there are guaranteed transfers at crossing stations.

 

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The Porto suburban trains network
source: cp.pt

 

The Guimarães line

The Guimarães line runs together with the Braga line and the Caíde line to Ermesinde station. After this station, it only runs parallel to the Braga line to Lousado and from this station onwards the traffic shares the same track: single-track railway. Between Lousado and Senhora das Dores the railway is also single track, since this is one of the North line parts which was not renovated.

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Porto - Guimarães line
source: cp.pt

The line goes through high density areas (especially in Porto and surroundings). From Porto it goes via Contumil, Rio Tinto, Águas Santas/Palmilheira to Ermesinde. This is the most heavily populated area. Travagem and Leandro stations follow. The surrounding of these places are more industrial than the area that is closer to Porto as well as near São Frutuoso. The next stop - São Romão - brings the track to the higher density area. But immediately the train goes into a valley with forest, this is the "most natural" part of the line. The Portela stop offers interesting views of the track in a relatively pleasant landscape.

The train runs further to Trofa, but before it it passes in Senhora das Dores stop in the middle of wide valley with small houses and agricultural areas. Trofa is the next station, and that means we are back in the a highly populated area. Then the train goes over the Ave River (Rio Ave) and arrives at Lousado. This station has a transfer to the Braga line that continues nortward with double track, while the Guimarães trains go eastward back to the Ave River.

The section Lousado-Vizela is characterized by two rivers and their valleys. First the train comes up the Ave River via Santo Tirso (it is also one of several towns on the line) and Caniços. Here is the junction of the Ave and Vizela Rivers. The trains follows the Vizela River via Giesteira, Lordelo, Cuca and Pereirinhas to another town - Vizela. Here it turns northwards to Guimarães, before it stops in Nespereira and Cuca.

Both valleys are heavily industrialised, mostly traditional industry that locates here mostly due to the river and its water resources. Most industries are textile.

 

Prices and timetable

Prices of suburban trains tickets are calculated according to the zone system (not just the Guimarães line, it is valid on all four suburban lines of Porto).

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Zone system of the Guimarães line
source: cp.pt

 

The comparison of prices on journeys from Guimarães to Porto is clear: the bus costs about 4,5 euro, while a single ticket Porto-Guimarães costs 2,15 euro. Therefore, the train is more than 50% cheaper. All tickets prices are as follows:

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Tickets prices of the Porto suburban network
source: cp.pt

Here you can download a timetable of the line - link.

 

Trains of the line

The CP company uses two types of trains for suburban service on the line. The most frequently used train type is the 3400 that runs the Porto-Guimarães distance (or Porto-Braga). Trains for Porto-Santo Tirso, CP uses trains type 2200.

The train type 3400 has a maximum speed of 140km/h and consists of four cars.

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The 3400 train scheme
source: cp.pt

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The 3400 train in station of Porto São Bento (Jan, 2008)

 

Trains of type 2200 have only 3 cars, their maximum speed is 120km/h.

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The 2200 train scheme
source: cp.pt

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The 2200 in Santo Tirso station (Jan, 2009)