Camélias and Asprela transport terminals have been totally renovated

31/05/2023

The refurbished transport terminals of Camélias, in Batalha, and Asprela, which includes the interfaces of Hospital de São João and Polo Universitário, will open to the public on June 1st. The opening of the two infrastructures is in line with the priority assumed by Porto City Hall to promote the multimodal citizen, to bet on efficient and sustainable public transport, contributing to the decarbonisation assumed in the Porto Climate Pact, as well as the removal of road transport from the city centre.

The refurbishment of the Camélias Terminal included the creation of a boarding/disembarkation area, with five piers, and a support area for long-term parking of vehicles used in public passenger transport, providing all the space with better conditions of accessibility, comfort, and safety, both for operators and passengers. It included the improvement of the stops, access and waiting conditions, signalling, landscaping of the space and also the creation of a waiting room with cafeteria and WC support, which did not exist until now.

The completion of the construction work will also enable the interurban service in heavy public transport to be organised in the south of the city, in order to reduce the volume of bus traffic in the centre of Porto.

Increased comfort for passengers

As for Pólo da Asprela, which comprehends the whole area surrounded by the Circunvalação highway, Rua Bernardino de Almeida, Rua Manuel Pacheco de Miranda, and Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, and comprises the Terminal do Hospital of São João (Alameda do Professor Hernâni Monteiro and Estrada da Circunvalação) and the Terminal do Pólo Universitário (Rua Alfredo Allen), the construction work aimed at providing comfortable conditions for passenger transport near both Metro stations with the same name.

In this large Polo Intermodal of Asprela, the services of Metro, STCP, AMP, CIM of Tâmega and Sousa, CIM of Ave and some express services will coexist.

In the case of Terminal of Hospital de São João, there was an extension of the roof space, materialising a true multimodal interface, with a building with a Loja Andante , cafeteria, toilets and a rest room for Metro and STCP employees, replacing temporary facilities installed there a long time ago.

This way, conditions have been created for the connection between the Yellow Line and STCP buses, in a covered and comfortable space for customers but also for the employees of transport operators operating there. At this terminal, passengers will be able to find STCP services, Metro Line D and bus services establishing Nascente/Poente and Poente Nascente of AMP.

A better served university campus

The Terminal of Pólo Universitário in Rua Alfredo Allen, besides the metro station, will be used by private operators, who will terminate their lines there, and foresees the existence of two boarding/disembarkation stops. Also, in this terminal there is a building with a waiting room, a cafeteria, a kiosk and WCs for the support and comfort of passengers. It also includes a parking area, located on Rua Manuel Pacheco Miranda, with about 29 parking spaces, intended for heavy passenger vehicles that need to make longer stopping time.

In this terminal, passengers may find the Metro Line D and road services from the North and Nascente, from the CIM’s of Tâmega and Sousa and Ave and some services from the AMP.

Besides the Pólo da Asprela terminals, there will be stops for passengers boarding and disembarking on the Circunvalação road and Rua Bernardino de Almeida, towards Oporto, and Rua Roberto Frias, towards the exit, in order to ensure proximity to the main facilities in this area.

In both terminals and in the embarkation/disembarkation pier areas, the installation of signalling elements to provide multimodal information to public transport passengers is underway.

Fewer buses in front of Hospital de S. João

The consolidation of the Pólo da Asprela will not only allow the reorganisation of the supply of interurban heavy public transport service but will also contribute to the reduction of the volume of bus circulations in the centre of Porto and in front of the Hospital de São João.

Pólo Intermodal da Asprela will serve a number of passengers and intercity buses equivalent to the Terminal Intermodal de Campanhã, inaugurated almost a year ago.

Parallel to the opening of the Camélias Terminal and the Pólo da Asprela, the Régulo Magauanha Terminal, next to the INEM facilities, in the city centre, will be deactivated, also as of June 1st.

With this new equipment, “the ring around the city is closed”, Teresa Stanislau, manager of STCP Serviços, the company responsible for all these infrastructures, told Jornal de Notícias.