Portugal's cutbacks halt high-speed train to Spain

 

The Portuguese austerity plan presented by Pedro Passos Coelho's conservative government last week is not to Spain's liking. It was particularly irked by the announcement that construction on the high-speed railway project between Madrid and Lisbon would be "suspended". The high-speed train would have connected the two capital cities in two hours and 45 minutes by 2013, instead of nine hours at present.

While conservative opposition to the project has regularly postponed work on the Portuguese side, work is well under way in Spain. Nearly €800m ($1.6bn) in public money has already been paid out from the total €3.8bn cost of the Spanish segment of the line.

Although the former Portuguese prime minister, Socialist José Sócrates, had made it a priority during his mandate, in the past two years the Portuguese track (estimated cost €3.3bn) has been facing vetoes from the centre-right opposition, which has criticised the high cost of the project at a time when the public deficit (9.3% of GDP) calls for austerity measures.

In exchange for a €78bn European bailout plan, the Social Democratic party (PSD), voted in on 6 June, has committed itself to a number of measures and reforms to reduce the public deficit to 3% of GDP by 2013. But Passos Coelho, who has boasted that he will exceed the austerity targets agreed in the EU-IMF bailout, has added objectives that weren't on the cards, including the postponement of the Iberian high-speed line.

In Spain, that Portuguese zeal is not appreciated. The Spanish transportation minister, José Blanco López, has described the Portuguese decision as a "bad" one and reminded his neighbour that "the project has obtained European financing". Madrid fears that the European funds allocated to the railway will be scaled down if the Portuguese decide to pull out permanently. To press his point, Blanco has asked to meet his Portuguese counterpart at the earliest opportunity.

In the Spanish regions that were to be covered by the high-speed train, there is concern about the local repercussions in terms of jobs and tourism, although according to the president of Extremadura, Guillermo Fernández Vara, "this decision won't affect the Spanish end of the line".

Last week, the Portuguese prime minister announced that further budget cuts would be put before parliament.

source: guardian

Train times speed up between Algarve and Lisbon

Journeys on the Alfa Pendular high speed train between the Algarve and Lisbon will now be ten minutes shorter thanks to the construction of 29 kilometres of new railway tracks by national rail company Refer.

The journey, which previously took 3h04, will now be reduced to 2h54, while direct journeys between Faro and Oporto will also be reduced.

This time reduction has been made possible by the construction of the new Alcácer bypass railway, reducing the distance by seven kilometres and allowing for greater travelling speeds. Regional and intercity trains will not benefit from shorter journey times as train company Comboios de Portugal (CP) has decided to include Alcácer station, which means that the old rail lines will be used.

A total of €159 million was invested in the rail improvements for the Alfa Pendular.

source: The Portugal News

Portugal - Railway renewal on track for 2011 completion

Renovation work on the Algarve’s railway track is due to be completed in April 2011, according to the national rail company REFER.

Work on the third and final phase of the improvements, which started in September and will cost around €7.9 million includes the replacement of wooden railway sleepers for concrete ones, as well as the installation of new longer length track sections to reduce the number of rail joints and the reinforcement of the ballast along a 90 kilometre stretch. 

The entire three phase project, of which the first two phases have been completed, began in 2008 and represents a total investment of €25 million.

In a statement, REFER said the investment will increase “the reliability and use, increase passenger comfort and make maintenance easier.”

The company added that the entire renovation project is based on “regular and systematic inspections” carried out by the company, which showed that parts of the track needed renewing.

A section between Tunes and Faro has not been included in the renovation works because according to REFER it was modernised in 2004.

 

source: The Portugal News