The line was eventually opened as far north as Arco de Baúlhe in 1949, the last such extension to Portugal's narrow gauge railway network.
Livração station was a junction with the main Douro Valley railway line; it is still served by CP's 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge trains to and from Oporto.
[1] Train services were operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP); the three Série 9100 diesel railcars were built in 1949 by the Swedish company NOHAB specifically for use on the Tâmega line.
The remaining part of the line south of Amarante closed in 2009 - ostensibly due to the need for urgent repair work.
The Strategic Transport Plan, published by the Portuguese Government in October 2011, showed that the Tâmega line required the highest level of subsidy (at €2.50 per passenger per kilometre) of any railway in Portugal and thus the line was listed for permanent closure.