The mayor of Faro accused the government on Thursday of having forgotten the Algarve “once again” when presenting the Porto-Lisbon high-speed connection, lamenting that politicians only remember the region during the summer holidays.
“It is good news for the north. Again, for the south there is absolutely no news. We are waiting for next summer,” Rogério Bacalhau (PSD) told Lusa, in response to the presentation, Wednesday, of the Lisbon high-speed link project to Porto and Porto to Vigo (Spain).
For the mayor, “as a general rule politicians, namely those in the central administration, remember the Algarve in July and August, a time that has passed”, and he reiterated that the region “will have to wait until next year”.
“We are full of promises,” he said, listing some promises that were not kept by the government, such as the special recovery plan for covid-19, the requalification of Estrada Nacional 125 or the electrification of the Algarve regional line that runs from Lagos, Vila Real de Santo Antonio.
The mayor said those who travel to the Algarve and “have decision-making powers”, go by car “not by train” and that therefore there are “no major problems”, he joked.
Rogério Bacalhau criticized that, in order to meet the environmental goals of decarbonisation, bus transport has increased, which he considered “nonsensical”.
“Even the promise of a fast connection to the north, let’s see if it is fulfilled,” concluded the mayor of the capital of the Algarve.
According to the project, the new high-speed line Porto-Lisbon, which aims to connect the two main cities of the country in just one hour and 15 minutes on the direct service, will have no stops and will be built in three phases.
The first phase, the route between Porto and Soure, which is expected to be completed in 2028, has an estimated journey time of one hour and 59 minutes.
The second section, between Soure and Carregado, which should be completed in 2030, should reduce travel time to one hour and 19 minutes.
The third phase, between Carregado and Lisbon, “will be built later” and will ensure that the entire connection will reach the final duration of one hour and 15 minutes.
Source: DN
