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Abstract

This article examines the cultural significance of the Barreiro Railway Complex in Portugal, a historically overlooked site of transport and industrial heritage. Based on original doctoral research, it analyses key infrastructures - such as the rail-river station, workshops, and workers' housing - and their role in shaping technical innovation and community identity. Using a heritage assessment framework grounded in authenticity and integrity, the article identifies both tangible and intangible values. Informed by critical heritage theory, particularly Edensor's and Smith's concepts of “heritage from below”, it advocates for the site's national recognition and interpretive reuse as a strategy for inclusive and sustainable preservation.

Keywords

Railway heritage value history of technology

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References

Albuquerque Brandão Borges

Breno

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Tim

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Laurajane

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TICCIH (The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage), “ The Nizhny Tagil Charter for the Industrial Heritage ”, 2023, ticcih.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/NTagilCharter.pdf (accessed 17 June 2025).

UNESCO, Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2019).

(De)valued railway heritage – The case of Barreiro,Portugal

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