The Commission of Fertagus Users (meaning commuters who travel across the Tejo river every day) is on the warpath. It has presented a complaint against the Portuguese state to the European Commission today, describing the rail service – which is overseen by the state – as a ‘public health risk’ unworthy of European standards.
Speaking in Lisbon today, the commission’s spokesperson, Aristides Teixeira, described the “appalling conditions”, to which thousands of passengers are subjected every day, as an attack against their physical integrity. “We ask that the government intervene to change the situation,” he stressed.
In the complaint, the commission explains the situation on the Fertagus line has been deteriorating particularly since last year. Trains circulate “at very slow speeds” and with “breakdowns”.
“People mass together on the platforms, pushing and shoving – there are incidents of verbal and physical abuse: everyone wants to get onto packed carriages, even children. People breathing on top of each other. The atmosphere is suffocating. There is always someone who needs to be helped or revived – causing the train to stop at the next station and wait for that help,” says Teixeira.
Compounding the misery, Aristides Teixeira claims the government is well aware of the hellish conditions, but does nothing to improve them.
“When we talk about Nazism, the image that springs to mind is that of concentration camps. Today, when we talk about Fertagus, the image that springs to mind is that of thousands of people suffocating inside the carriages – that is the plain and simple truth,” he told Lusa – adding that people prefer to make the ‘financial effort’ to take their cars into the city in order not to have to suffer the indignity and discomfort of riding on a Fertagus train. This is particularly relevant when the whole idea of public transport these days is to encourage people to leave their cars ‘at home’ – reducing traffic flows/ pollution/ congestion, etc., in a congested, polluted city
Putting the boot firmly in, Teixeira ended with the appeal that the government “must introduce urgent measures to address this situation which brings shame upon Portugal in the eyes of a civilized Europe.”
The commission hopes that by making this level of fuss, the government will finally act. “It will be a slow process”, Teixeira accepts. “But let’s hope for a medium term solution so that people can start being transported with at least a modicum of dignity by the worst rail operator in Portugal.”
Source material: LUSA
