Fertagus has two new carriages in the first half of 2027

A president of the board of directors of Fertagus, Cristina Dourado, who participated in a conference on public transport, at the river terminal of Cais do Sodré, when asked about the complaints of Fertagus users about overcrowding trains, explained that the demand for the Tagus railway crossing increased “exponentially” with the tariff reduction and that the problem will only be minimized with the increase in rolling stock.

In this sense, the president of Fertagus insisted that the first two of the five carriages that will strengthen the service of the company be available in the first half of next year.

Cristina Dourado said that each carriage, made available by the Spanish company RENFE, will have a capacity to receive 350 people.

In addition to the lack of rolling stock, the administrator of Fertagus pointed to the existence of problems in railway infrastructure, resulting in “launderings” in circulation.

In March, the Fertagus Utentes Commission sent a complaint against the Portuguese State to the European Commission for allowing passengers to be transported daily under “outside the European standard” and “with security risks”.

“ People crowd on the piers, push themselves, beat themselves verbally and physically. Everyone wants to get into the carriages, crushed, children included, breathing on top of each other. In this suffocating atmosphere, there is always someone who needs to be helped and the train has to stop at the next station and wait for help,” said the committee spokesperson Aristides Teixeira to Lusa.

As early as April this year, the administrator of Fertagus admitted in parliament that the company operates at capacity limit, pointing to the government the responsibility for strengthening trains needed to respond to increased demand.

Fertagus is responsible for the railway link between the two banks of the Tagus by the 25th of April Bridge, between Lisbon and Setúbal.