The long awaited Algarve railway modernisation, costing an estimated €120 million, will see the electrification of the track and a link constructed between Faro and the airport.
The president of railway engineering company REFER visited the Algarve and said that the project to electrify the line should start in 2016 and finish in 2019, while the work to connect the Algarve capital to Faro airport will begin in 2017 with an estimated completion date in 2021, a full seven years away.
Refer boss Rui Loureiro was on a train journey from Lagos to Vila Real de Santo António to look at the conditions of the current rail service and infrastructure.
Electrification of the remaining sections of line will allow faster speeds, more trains and hopefully a better service but first there must be the inevitable study, especially into the proposed airport link which will see the construction of a new terminal that can handle freight and passengers.
Some old stations may well be shut or relocated and Loureiro added that there is absolutely no chance of a railway link to Spain as “previous studies had shown that this was economically and socially not profitable.”
The money for the railway upgrade is 75% from European Community funds and Loureiro said that REFER will have to have meetings with all the councils whose area the track crosses and with the railway company CP before starting any work.
So much for the government investing in the Algarve. These railway projects have been sat on the shelf for years and the viability studies already will exist.
The wait until 2021 for a link to and from Faro airport will delight taxi drivers and depress Faro’s council which was looking forward to an influx of tourists.
By keeping Faro airport at arm’s length from the current poor rail service for another 7 years minimum, the government continues to ensure the Algarve is unable to offer any sort of joined up thinking when it comes to integrated transport.
