Porto, Sept. 3, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal's government is studying the possibility of connecting the Vouga Line to the Northern Line, the minister for infrastructures said on Tuesday, but declined to give further details after meeting with the Porto Metropolitan Area (AMP).
"We are studying the possibility of connecting [the Vouga Line] to the Northern Line. It hasn't been defined here today. It's the wish of the mayors and the government has undertaken to meet it and try to find solutions to meet the wish of the mayors," he told journalists in Porto today.
Miguel Pinto Luz was speaking at the AMP headquarters after meeting with the sub-region's mayors, where he addressed issues such as ride-hailing traffic, traffic management on the Via de Cintura Interna (VCI), the Porto Metro, the Vouga Line and housing.
However, he pointed out that no closed or detailed solutions exist for this connection to the Northern Line. Still, he made it a "priority" for the PSD/CDS-PP government led by Luís Montenegro, who lives in Espinho. This very municipality no longer has a direct interface between the Vouga and Northern lines.
On 19 August, Socialist MP Hugo Oliveira criticised the Ministry of Infrastructure's request for "secrecy" regarding meetings on the Vouga Railway, which is awaiting work on the section from Oliveira de Azeméis to Espinho.
Hugo Oliveira explained that he learnt about the request for confidentiality from the mayor of Oliveira de Azeméis: "Joaquim Jorge Ferreira said at a town hall meeting (...) that he had “an indication from the minister not to reveal what was discussed at the meeting” between him and the AMTSM mayors" about various development scenarios for the so-called Vouguinha route.
The Minister for Infrastructure said today that "there is no secrecy" and that his meetings "are all transparent".
Speaking to Lusa then, the mayor of Oliveira de Azeméis declined to comment on the matter or his ambitions for the Vouga Line. The Ministry of Infrastructure, for its part, also did not clarify the justification for the request for silence addressed to the mayors.
However, an official source in Miguel Pinto Luz's office recognises that the meeting "discussed various scenarios for the development of the Vouga Line, to enhance its connection to the central core of the Porto Metropolitan Area, as well as serving the entire population of that region with the best mobility solutions".
In the same reply to Lusa, the office added that "the Minister for Infrastructure had the opportunity to present the state of play of the works carried out, in progress and planned along the entire length of the Vouga Line", but although he had been asked to do so, he did not indicate which works they were.
The office concludes that upgrading the Vouga Line is a process "that is underway and will continue, as provided for in the 2030 National Investment Plan".
The Vouga Line is also absent from the Andante intermodal system, which has led to an exchange of public statements between AMP, Transportes Intermodais do Porto (TIP) and CP - Comboios de Portugal.
CP requested AMP to integrate the Vouga Line into Andante a year ago, but AMP's executive comittee claims that ticketing errors at Unir have prevented the integration.
The absence of the Andante system on the Vouga Line, for example, prevents frequent passengers from using the metropolitan Andante pass on the train, with the corresponding increase in costs (€89 for two passes instead of €40 for the single pass), to get to Porto, creating a situation of unequal treatment compared to the rest of AMP's public transport users.
The journey between Oliveira de Azeméis and Espinho takes over an hour and Espinho-Vouga station is around 500 metres from Espinho station on the Northern Line, which is served by CP urban trains with connections to Porto and Aveiro, as well as long-distance trains.
JE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
