A renovated steam train starts full service on June 4th, taking passengers along the Douro riverside.
The historic Douro train programme started in the late 90s with steam locomotive 0186, built in 1925 by Henschel & Son, pulling five beautiful wooden carriages.
The new service sees the return of the steam locomotive which has undergone an innovative engineering upgrade that saw the coal fired boiler adapted to run on diesel.
Portugal Railways said that until 22 October, 40 journeys will be made from Peso da Régua station in the Vila Real area, to Tua in Bragança, and back again.
The previous reliance on coal has been switched to using diesel which involved the replacement of the copper boiler with another built of steel which is able to withstand greater heat intensity. The steam process remains and is used to drive the locomotive.
The railway company said that with this change, the machine "is best suited to the energy and environmental requirements of the C21st century" as 1,500 kgs of coal used to be used up during the round trip. Now the journey will consume about 400 litres of diesel.
The new boiler is reproduction of an original and allows "the locomotive to work but with less smoke, no ash and no fire hazard."
The conversion work was carried out by Empresa de Manutenção de Equipamento Ferroviário, together with the specialised Spanish companies Autalem and ARMF.
A service continued during the conversion work with the carriages being pulled by a diesel locomotive, but it just wasn’t the same despite good passenger numbers, over 12,000 in 2015.
The 2016 campaign will lasts six months and provides trips every Saturday between June 4th and October 22nd, on Sundays between July 3rd and September 25th, on Wednesdays from August 3rd to August 31st and on the August 15th holiday.
The Régua train goes to Tua in the Bragança area, and travelles along the line that overlooks the Douro river and the terraced vineyards which are all part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Port is served.
See http://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en/how-to-travel/For-leisure/Nature-and-Culture/comboio-historico
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