The idea is not new, but the Algarve's Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) again defended this Tuesday, 24 August, that a new rail link Algarve-Huelva-Seville is a "priority".
The position emerged in a note sent to the press, a few days after the Cidade de Badajoz Civic Association went public with a study that could bias the Algarve's desire.
In an article in the Público newspaper, this association argues that it is only necessary to electrify 200 kilometers of the line, in Extremadura, so that Seville becomes just three and a half hours away, by train, from Lisbon.
Speaking to Público, Alejandro Vargas, a member of the Cidade de Badajoz Civic Association, argued that "we are not asking for a pharaonic work, but rather a very simple intervention with an enormous cost-benefit ratio."
Formal support for this position was reaffirmed on June 18, in a public act held at the Chamber of Commerce of Seville, with the presence and subscription of a manifest by the Intermunicipal Community of the Algarve (AMAL), chaired by António Miguel Pina, and by Algarve Business Association (NERA), chaired by Vítor Neto.
"In our understanding, the electrification of the Algarve Line between Vila Real de Santo António and Lagos, expected to be completed by the end of 2023, should be accompanied by the reactivation of the Huelva – Ayamonte line and by structural rail investment for the Southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, connecting the Algarve to Andalusia and the European high-speed network», says the CCDR.
In parallel, argues this entity, "it becomes necessary to move forward with the light rail link Faro – Airport – University of Algarve – Parque das Cidades (Loulé), ensuring by the Infrastructures of Portugal, in the context of municipal land use plans, the indispensable corridors and uses compatible with the commitment to public rail transport as an indispensable contribution to mobility and decarbonisation'.
In a session held last month (July), for the presentation of the National Rail Plan, this issue of connection to Spain did not raise any divergence between the various speakers, between mayors, businessmen and representatives of citizens' movements.
“We want to be able to put the high-speed connection between Seville and Seville Airport back on the agenda. Faro, which will be strategic for the region», highlighted, for example, José Apolinário, president of CCDR do Algarve.
«We fight for the development of the southwest Iberian corridor», and «the development of this corridor has the support of the Algarve's municipalities and businessmen and their associations» which «will reinforce the positioning of the Algarve and the Airport in the region in the Iberian and European context» , concluded, at the time.
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