Infraestruturas de Portugal run by former railways boss António Ramalho said today that recent news reports that the electrification of the Algarve’s railway line has been 'abandoned' simply are not true.
There will be a delay though, while Infraestruturas de Portugal concentrates elsewhere on higher priority railway projects far from the sun-kissed south.
These 'other projects' are part of the very sexy trans-European network infrastructure ‘Connecting Europe’ but they do not mean that the electrification project in the Algarve has been ditched, honestly.
Infraestruturas de Portugal asks us to believe that the electrification project for all 141 kilometers of the Algarve line remains in force and will be implemented. Currently just 40 kilometres of track are electrified along the Faro section and the cost saving estimate, should the rolling stock be able to use electricity rather than diesel, is €400,000 anually.
The railway company also ‘believes’ that in 2015, €66 million of direct investment will be achieved in the rehabilitation and maintenance of the Algarve’s railway, an amount marginally higher than the amounts invested in 2014 and 2013 (€61.1 million and € 61.9 million).
Infraestruturas de Portugal is intent on continuing with its overall Rail Plan which includes work to strengthen 'security, improve reliability and service quality by reducing travel times.'
The security project at Olhão famously created the wholly unnecessary ‘Berlin Wall’ stand-off which has yet to be resolved sensibly.
The ‘elephant in the room’ in Infraestruturas de Portugal’s notice to the press today is of course the building of the essential rail link to Faro airport which Ramalho failed to mention at all, and which therefore we safely can assume has been ditched.
