Carmona Rodrigues, the Minister for Public Works, Transport and Housing, has announced that Alfa and Inter-city trains will link Faro with the city of Braga, in the far north of the country, from May onwards.
Rodrigues was speaking in Guimarães, during a meeting promoted by CP and Refer, at the inauguration ceremony of the new Guimarães line and the city’s train station. The minister said that, “once the renovation of the Minho line has been completed, it will be possible to travel from Braga to the Algarve in modern trains”.
He also noted that, aside from the new train route to Braga, more train lines are currently in the final stages of construction in Aveiro, as well as in other areas of the country. “If we maintain the present level of investment in the rail sector over the next few years, it will be possible to advance with a high-speed train,” he stressed. The minister also said that the government is aiming to develop more cargo trains.
Currently, only one per cent of goods travels by train. Rodrigues also drew attention to the fact that nearly 1,300 level crossings were abolished in 2003 and that last year also saw a 30 per cent year-on-year reduction in deaths on train lines.
