A 300 strong crowd gathered on Saturday morning at the Berlin wall in Olhão to listen to the mayor’s speech and to voice their concerns that should Refer get its way the crossing will stay closed.
Finding that public-spirited locals has removed the offending fencing that has for many divided the city in two, unless locals take a steep and awkward underpass to cross from north to south, the mayor gave his speech anyway – there were TV cameras there after all.
The protestors in Olhão claim that the alternative route, an underpass, suggested by the national railway company Refer "offers no conditions" for people with reduced mobility.
The protest was called by the council and the parish council as they both agree with locals that the railway company’s decision was made without consultation and the alternative underpass for the elderly or disabled is hazardous and scary.
The mayor, parish council president and the people for once all want the same thing the reopening of a crossing that already is reopened.
Refer justified the fencing off of the ancient crossing linking the Avenida Dr. Bernardino da Silva and the Avenida da Republica on the grounds of an increased risk for users when new signalling allows trains to travel at higher speeds in areas where before this was not possible.
This argument is nonsensical as the crossing is less than 100 metres from the station and all trains will be travelling at a slow speed as they approach the platform, however fast they may have been travelling along the line.
Should Refer rebuild the barrier it is at risk of seeing it again removed under cover of darkness.
Police were posted during daylight hours at either side of the crossing for a week, mainly to explain to pedestrians that it was no longer possible to walk across the line. The fence also gave an indication that this was not possible, as did the large sign fixed to the mesh.
It will be impossible to police the crossing 24/7.
Refer has now made a safe crossing a dangerous one as its contractors have removed the concrete surface that made the crossing a level one. Now the elderly have trouble picking their way over the tracks.
Olhão has a long and proud history of doing things its own way, indeed it very foundation was the result of a dispute, and the word on the street is that Refer is wasting its money if it re-erects the fencing.
