The president of the Algarve PSD, Cristóvão Norte, welcomed the start of operations of electric trains between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, benefiting from the electrification works on the Algarve Line, but warned of the importance of continuing to modernise the railway, creating a connection to Faro airport and a cross-border link between the Algarve and Andalusia, in Spain.

Airport connection

“The Algarve has already gained more trains. Now it needs to connect to Faro airport and Spain,” stated the PSD of the Faro district in a press release, highlighting that the decommissioning of diesel trains and the introduction of electric trains, which took place on Sunday, allows for an 18% increase in service and the creation of approximately 40% more seats.

Users will enjoy “greater comfort,” have direct connections between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, with the “elimination of most transfers in Faro,” and it is estimated that “there will be a reduction of up to 30 minutes in travel time between the two ends of the Algarve,” the PSD of the Algarve also emphasised.

Benefits felt

“The electrification of the Algarve Line was indispensable, and its benefits are now beginning to be felt. Today we have more frequencies, about 40% more seats available, greater comfort and faster journeys. It is an important step forward for the region's mobility and deserves to be recognised,” said the president of the PSD Algarve, Cristóvão Norte. The impact of the electrification of the Algarve Line demonstrates that "structural investments produce concrete results," the party leader also considered, arguing, however, that the improvements now achieved should "mark only the beginning of a new stage of railway modernisation" in the Algarve region.

Reaching the airport

The next steps should be to extend the railway line to Faro airport, the "main" airport in the south of the country, and create a cross-border Portuguese-Spanish connection that allows linking Faro to Seville, he argued.

"It is positive that the Governments of Portugal and Spain have assumed, for the first time, the strategic importance of the railway connection between the Algarve and Andalusia. It is essential to transform this political commitment into concrete decisions, an execution schedule and a common ambition to realise this connection," he appealed.

Cristóvão Norte lamented that the connection to Faro airport “was not integrated into the mobility model currently planned” for the region, nor was it included in the ‘metrobus’ project developed by the municipalities of Faro, Loulé and Olhão, with the support of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR).

Good news for the Algarve

“The PSD Algarve considers that more trains, more comfort and faster journeys are good news for the Algarve. The next challenge is to complete an integrated vision for the regional railway, connecting it to Faro Airport, Spain and the mobility needs of those who live, work and visit the region,” reiterated the president of the Faro district political commission of the party.

Since 19 July, regional rail connections in the Algarve have been made entirely with electric trains, as announced by CP - Comboios de Portugal at the beginning of the month.

The photograph shown was taken by The Portugal News team at Figueira da Foz train station; however, the carriages in the image illustrate those that will be operating in the Algarve.