The mayor of Lisbon said on Monday that the delays in the metro works are “a major obstacle to traffic” in the city, threatening to demand that the work be suspended if the timetable is not met.
“The constant delays in the metro works are a major obstacle to traffic in Lisbon. The people of Lisbon cannot accept these delays as normal. As mayor, I demand that there be a public plan that is urgently fulfilled. If it isn’t, I’ll have to demand that the government stop work immediately in certain areas of the city,” said Carlos Moedas, speaking to the Lusa news agency.
In an interview with TSF and Dinheiro Vivo on Saturday, the president of the Lisbon Metro, Vítor Domingues do Santos, revealed that the city will face new constraints because of the expansion works, especially in the riverside area, near Cais do Sodré, and that in Alcântara the temporary cutting of Avenida 24 de Julho will be extended.
Lisbon Metro works restrict traffic on 24 de Julho for nine months
He admitted that the constraints will have implications for CP and Carris customers, but that these are “costs of progress”.
“Once again, these delays reveal the importance of the Lisbon Metro being managed by Lisbon City Council and not by the government,” reiterated the PSD mayor, who governs the city without an absolute majority.
On 29 September, Carlos Moedas argued that the capital’s Metropolitano “should be the responsibility” of the municipality, as is the case with Carris, because “mobility must always be seen as a whole”, in order to be able to give “a greater response” to people.
Questioned by Lusa on the sidelines of the meeting “Communities in Action – integrated metropolitan operations”, which took place at the Fórum Lisboa, the mayor explained the position on the Lisbon Airport Metro that he had expressed in an interview with TSF and DN, published that day.
Carlos Moedas had already asked the government to have “at least one administrator” in the Metro and “this request was not answered” by Prime Minister António Costa.
“There was no difference in my thinking here,” he emphasised, when questioned by Lusa about going from asking for “a director” to being a “100% shareholder” in Metro.
“If there’s no reaction from the government about having an administrator, I think I should fight for a solution, which is the solution that makes sense. How is it that we have a Metro that is supervised at national level, but which works in my territory, in our territory, for the people of Lisbon?” he asks, reminding us: “It’s the Lisbon Metro”.
This change in the management of the Lisbon Metro is “a question of strategy” and therefore has to be “discussed with the government”, the Social Democrat mayor noted at the time.
The new Circular line of the Lisbon Metro, which will connect Rato station to Cais do Sodré, in an extension of two more kilometres of network, will create a circular ring in the centre of Lisbon, and interfaces that combine and integrate various modes of transport.
The Lisbon Metro operates daily with four lines: Yellow (Rato – Odivelas), Green (Telheiras – Cais do Sodré), Blue (Reboleira – Santa Apolónia) and Red (Aeroporto – São Sebastião).
The metro normally runs between 06h30 and 01h00.