The Algarve’s social democrats (PSD) have joined the wave of criticism regarding the chaotic state of the region’s railway service, which every day sees trains delayed or cancelled, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded and with little or no alternatives.
In a press statement, Algarve MP Cristóvão Norte says passengers are losing confidence in the service as they never know if their train will arrive or not.
The politician says the service is “underdeveloped” and that passengers are treated in a “shocking” manner.
Another concern is the fact that the buses that Portuguese railway company CP rents to make up for the axed trains do not provide transportation for all the passengers that are affected in the Eastern Algarve (click here).
The MP feels the situation will only worsen.
“Nothing has been done to buy or rent new trains and the electrification of the railway, which according to the government would have been completed by 2019, has not even started yet,” Norte says, adding that the government has already admitted the project is not a priority.
Norte and fellow PSD MP José Carlos Barros have now urged the government to bring the state of the railway back to normal and, when this is not possible, to provide transportation to all stations and stops so that no passengers are left stranded.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
Photo: Bruno Filipe Pires/ Open Media Group
