It is no coincidence that the first official visit of the new PS leader takes place in the municipality of Matosinhos: the parish of Guifões was a kind of talisman for Pedro Nuno Santos as Minister of Infrastructure. It was there that the former ruler reopened the CP railway workshop in January 2020; where in July 2021 he showed the first of the 50 carriages that CP had purchased a year earlier from Spanish counterpart Renfe; It was also there, in December 2021, that the public tender was launched for the purchase of 117 new trains, the largest ever for the public railway company.
It was on the trains that Pedro Nuno Santos tried to show the good side of the Ministry of Infrastructure, especially when TAP – before and after nationalization – always came with bad news. When he replaced Pedro Marques in February 2019, Pedro Nuno Santos CP had virtually collapsed, with overcrowded trains on suburban services and daily trip cancellations on regional services, especially in Douro, Oeste and Algarve.
In June 2019, the then minister managed to approve an investment plan of 45 million euros to repair trains that were stationary throughout the country, merge CP with the then railway maintenance company EMEF, and also hire 187 employees for the public railway company . A new president for CP was also appointed, Nuno Freitas, an experienced railway worker who managed to put into practice the most urgent measures for the carrier.
Train recovery was essential for the company to fulfill its role: ensuring that the train arrives on time and cleanly.
In addition to the creation of the Technological Center for Railways, the investment plan also included the signing of the first public service contract in CP’s history, in November 2019. The document only entered into force in June 2020: from then on, CP knew it could calculate that the state would be compensated for daily journeys, from the suburban train to the Intercidades – only the Alfa Pendular was left out. The contract also provided for the cancellation of the company’s historic debts, which was only approved last October.
Clearing its obligations is crucial for CP to be able to purchase trains for the new high-speed line – the tender for the purchase of rolling stock should be launched in the first half of 2024 – and to have more autonomy in its business operations from the company. financial management – with conditions, for example, to increase the salaries of reviewers and workshop staff.
117 problems
When CP opened the public tender for the purchase of 117 trains, the company already knew that the procedure had to be well protected to avoid problems with the courts. Between December 2019 and October 2020, the procurement of 22 rail cars for regional service was challenged by the Basques of the CAF. Only then was the contract with the Swiss from Stadler finally signed and submitted to the Court of Auditors for approval.
In December 2021, when the procurement of 117 new trains for suburban and regional services began, the then minister guaranteed: “All measures within our reach have been taken to ensure the utmost transparency,” according to statements sent to Dinheiro Vivo. Pedro Nuno Santos also indicated that the winner of the dispute would be known at the end of 2022, “if all goes well, within the deadlines, without legal challenges”.
Almost two years later, in October 2023, the French company Alstom was declared the winner of the competition for these trains, but the process was challenged by competitors CAF and Stadler. This is a tender budgeted at 819 million euros and which benefited the one who invested the most in Portugal in the installation of the new rolling stock.
Given the predictable delays from the courts and the fact that the first of the 117 new trains will only be ready 40 months (three years and four months) after approval by the Court of Auditors, there is a risk that Pedro Nuno Santos will end his first train journey. term as head of government at the inauguration of the first of CP’s new rail cars.
Source: DN
