The Póvoa train station serves the city of Póvoa de Santa Iria, a suburb in the north of Lisbon, and is part of the North Line (Linha do Norte), a railway line which connects Lisbon to Porto.

Two of the local train carriages were crumpled and a concrete platform shelter was toppled, killing two persons in the station.

[4] The injured were taken to the hospitals of Vila Franca de Xira, São José and Santa Maria.

[2] The President of Portugal Mário Soares visited the site of the accident hours after the collision, while rescue searches were ongoing.

[4] Following the accident, Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (CP) formed an inquiry committee with the task of investigating the cause of the train collision.