Users of the Algarve’s railway service are having to put up with a daily service that is blighted with frequent cancellations.
The Algarve Line Passengers Committee is holding a public protest next Thursday, January 10, at Olhão railway station, “in defence of the Algarve Line, a fundamental infrastructure for the development of the region which faces one of the worst moments in its history.”
"In the last year, schedules were dropped and hundreds of trains were cancelled,” say the committee whose members face regular delays, the closure and abandonment of stations and the replacement of trains by coaches that make only half the stops,” claims the passengers action group.
"If, with the entry of each new year, expectations are bolstered so let’s make 2019 the year of a turnaround for the railway," states the committee.
On the plus side, on Monday, January 7, the Government announced it will launch an international public tender for the acquisition of new rolling stock but whether any of these engines and carriages will make their way this far south, remains to be seen.
The last time the Algarve line's rolling stock was replaced, it was with refurbished 1960s carriages, despite government claims that they were new.
In 2011, Comboios de Portugal announced that the Algarve’s railway line would be upgraded and revamped with the old rolling stock removed and replaced by 11 new trains. On arrival, these shiny new trains were proved to be from the 1960s and had been used in the north of Portugal since 2000.
Comments
The train service in the Algarve appears to just trundle along on out dated carriages because none of the politicians in the Algarve appear to have no interest in the infrastructure of this region.
Portugese people from northern Portugal own a about 70% of the properties that are left empty for most of the year, these people are paying their property tax for these houses and apartments but they don't care about the infrastructure of the area, as long as everything is in full swing when they arrive in August .
The Government could put an extra tax on second home owners and this revenue could be used to pay for proper infrastructure in the Algarve.
I think we either scrap the railway or do it properly.
People won't use a service that is erratic and plagued by cancellations. This drives commuter cars onto the 125.
If the line was clean, modern, on time and above all - promoted properly - then numbers soon would rise and the line again would start to make sense.
The biggest threat now is the privatisation of Portugal's railways as the State intends to sell off concessions to run railway services.
There is no industry here either to encourage people to live and work here all year long, so it lacks the infrastructure that Lisbon and Porto has and sadly we have to live with this.
One can not expect that people use an unreliable service with out of date stock! The few people that need to use the service because no alternative transport is suitable are right to be upset. In order to maintain regular service income needs to go up. The lack of creativity to solve this is mind blowing. Why not start and create an Algarve Express line (just an additional coach to existing serives) for seminars one way by express line, and an unforgetable lunch on the return stopping at all small stations? There must be many businesses both local and international who would be interested in this, in combination with there other activities (football?etc). I can think of a thousand ways of how to promote the Algarve Comboios (railways), to start with the old stock being a feature of times gone by, photogenetic etc. People love authenticity. Leaving the future to privitazation will further erode services, as from an economical point of view companies will invest in profitable lines and close (or under invest) in others. More income (not from higher tickets prices) is what is needed in addition to a government that will invests to improve network and rolling stock as it accepts that they have financially starved this service for decades.
Either have a real service; reliable, safe, modernized, and adequately funded, or give it up and get the obstructive tracks out of the way.