Pedro Nuno Santos travelled by train between Cais do Sodré
(Lisbon) and Cascais stations to mark the assignment of the contract to
modernise the track, representing an investment of €32 million.
The contract, expected to last two years, is part of the
first phase of the Modernization Plan for the Cascais Line, for which a global
investment of around 100 million euros is foreseen.
After the trip, which lasted about 45 minutes, in which the
mayor of Cascais, Carlos Carreiras (PSD), and elements from Infraestrutura de
Portugal (IP) and CP also participated, the government official made a small
speech to highlight the importance of the Cascais Line and the planned
interventions.
"We have a line from the last century. It is
incomprehensible and unjustifiable that the country has let this line go
backwards. We have a line that is an island in the context of the national rail
network. It is isolated and has rolling stock that is nearly 70 years old,"
he said.
The official also used figures released by the president of the CP, Pedro Moreira, to underline that trains on the Cascais Line carry the equivalent of 1,700 buses and 55,000 cars daily, highlighting the economic and environmental benefits of the infrastructure.