The use of trains had "a significant increase" in the first quarter of 2014, three months that were also marked by increases both in road traffic on the A22 and A2 and by the increase in the movement of passengers on the intercity highways, which operate at the same level. region, revealed the Regional Coordination and Development Committee in its Quarterly Transport Bulletin.
Conversely, urban bus routes lost passengers between January and March 2014 and inter-regional collective road transport also lost ground when compared to rail. In river transport, there was a very sharp drop in the Ria Formosa routes, which saw the number of passengers drop to almost half, a drop that is justified by the fact that in 2013 there was unusually high traffic.
By mode of transport, the railway stands out. The regional rail system, which connects Lagos to Vila Real de Santo António, transported more than 375 passengers, an increase of 9,2 percent compared to the same quarter of the previous year. In Long Distance, the increase was 12,4 percentage points, with 109,5 passengers transported.
In both cases, this is the third consecutive positive quarterly variation, which reinforces "the reversal to positive values started in the 3rd quarter of 2013".
Traffic on the main road axes in the region also registered a positive variation, in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period in 2013. On the A22, there was an increase in traffic of 5,1 percent, with an average of 5336 vehicles passing by that road every day. On the A2, the Almodôvar/São Bartolomeu de Messines section recorded an increase in Average Daily Traffic of 1 percent (4634 vehicles per day on average).
«Again, and for both structuring paths, it should be noted that the figures for the 1st quarter of 2014 constitute the third consecutive quarter of positive variations, after 11 consecutive quarters (from the 4th quarter of 2010 to the 2nd of 2013) of losses. The positive figures for the second half of 2013 and the first quarter of this year consolidate the signs of recovery in traffic that came from 2013», considers the CCDRA in the bulletin.
On national roads, there was a very slight decrease in traffic on the IC1 section between SB Messines and Tune, by 0,1 percent. On the EN125, there was a 1,4 percent increase in traffic on the section between Odiáxere and Estômbar, with the sections between Tavira and Monte Lagoa (Castro Marim) and São João da Venda and Faro to register a decrease in traffic, of around 0,8 and 3,5 percentage points, respectively.
In public road transport, in addition to the aforementioned increase in long-distance services, which amounted to 9,7 percent, there was a decrease in regional urban connections of 7 percent, as well as in inter-regional expresses, which transported 9,2 less. 2014 percent of passengers in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the same period in 13. The international route, which connects Lagos to Seville, registered a 3184 percent increase in passengers, with a total of XNUMX passengers transported.
«The main highlight of the collective road mode is: the persistence of the sharp drop in the movement of urban careers (although only 7% this quarter); the expressive positive growth of the movement in inter-urban careers (a value – 9,7% – frankly contrasting with the values observed in the year-on-year variations of the last years); a further decrease in the movement in the inter-regional careers (which, in this quarter, are losing once again to the long-distance rail mode)», highlighted the CCDRA.
In terms of river transport, the highlight was the 48,1 percent decrease in passengers transported on the Ria Formosa routes. A decrease that, despite the order of magnitude, should not be "observed with special concern".
"In fact, the value recorded in the 1st quarter of 2013 was particularly high (and unusual) for the time, as a result of the holding of a large-scale sporting event for young people from various countries in Europe, which took place on the island. of Tavira at the end of March 2013. The value for the 1st quarter of 2014 is of the order of magnitude of the values recorded in the first quarters of previous years (2010 to 2012)», explained the CCDRA.
Also the line that guarantees the crossing of the Guadiana between Vila Real de Santo António and Ayamonte carried fewer passengers in the first three months of 2014, compared to the same period in 2013, but the decrease, in this case, was “only” 10 percent . Here, the scenario has been one of «progressive loss of movement, only sporadically counteracted, in the last 25 quarters, twice».
Air traffic data is no longer included in the CCDRA Transport Bulletin, given «the decision of ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal, SA, to suspend the authorization for the provision of information relating to the indicators “number of flights”, “passengers transported ” and “passengers transported to/from national airports”».
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