“The privatisation of TAP must continue, this is the priority that was already the priority of the 24th Government and will continue, (...) the construction of the new airport (...), the continuity of the PFN, now meeting deadlines and putting those seven years of delay of Ferrovia 2020 in the past. We have to actually finish Ferrovia 2020 and start meeting deadlines”, Miguel Pinto Luz told journalists.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing presided over the opening of the 6th edition of the Portugal Railway Summit, held by the Portuguese Railway Platform Association, Railway Cluster, an event that takes place over two days at the National Railway Museum, highlighting the importance of the railway in “structuring” investments for the country.

“Railways are essential for ports, (…) for logistics, to ensure that our citizens have mobility and (…) this Government’s commitment is clear. The green railway pass has sold more than 300,000 passes and more than 55,000 passengers use the green railway pass every month,” he declared.

In this sense, with "more demand and more passes" sold, "CP has more passengers traveling on regional [trains], on intercity trains, and has more revenue, that is, we are not decapitalizing CP as some predicted, on the contrary, we are putting CP at the service of the Portuguese people", said Pinto Luz, who pointed to "more priorities" in the railway.

“High speed, the three cross-border connections with the Porto-Bragança-Zamora connection, the Aveiro-Salamanca connection, the Faro-Huelva-Seville connection are priorities that this Government has also put up for debate and discussion with the Spanish Government”, he declared.

On the other hand, he noted, it is also “important to ensure that national ports are equipped with infrastructure from a railway point of view for 750-meter trains and this Government’s commitment is to complete, by the end of this year, what is the southern international corridor in the first section Évora-Elvas-Caia, which will also serve high-speed rail in the future, but particularly goods, in the first phase”, having pointed out the broad “challenges”.

New airport

“The new airport will face challenges, such as the third crossing of the Tagus, all the road and rail connections that must be guaranteed for the new airport, the metro south of the Tagus, the extension of the metro north of the Tagus, the eastern LIOS, the western LIOS…”, he explained.

“There are many, there is a lot of ambition, but I would say that there is a lot of consensus across all political forces in a parliament that is now emerging fragmented, with a new architecture, but I think there is a huge consensus around these decisions and that is important to guarantee the future”, he declared.

Pinto Luz reiterated that “these are the priorities” and that the government “has to fulfil them”.

On 10 March, the government approved, in the Council of Ministers, a resolution that gives the ‘green light’ to the PFN, including high-speed connections, following a “broad national debate and public consultation”.

This diploma includes “measures that will prepare studies on high-speed connections, which we agreed to explore at the recent summit with Spain, whether the connection through the North or the connection through the Algarve”, and “other rail connections that the country must plan and develop in the long term”, indicated the Minister of the Presidency, Leitão Amaro.

The Portugal Railway Summit aims to address the central issues of the future of railways – high speed, innovation and artificial intelligence, intermodality, sustainability and ESG, among others – and has 50 speakers, 40 exhibition stands and around 500 registered participants.