The Lisbon Chamber asks the government for a full clarification on the future of the Metro Circle Line

The Lisbon City Council approved this Wednesday a PCP proposal for the government and Metropolitano to take “urgent measures” to minimize restrictions on public transport in the city and clarify the future of the Circle Line project.

In a closed session, the executive body of the City Council decided to “calling on the Government and the Metropolitano of Lisbon to take effective measures that minimize the impact of restrictions on public transport”, in particular those resulting from the works on the Campo Grande Metro. and guarantee complete information to the city council and public transport users.

The proposal of the PCP was made possible among the 17 members of the House when four people elected by the PS voted against, two councilors from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS / Livre coalition) abstained and votes in favor of the rest – seven from the Novos Tempos coalition (PSD/CDS-PP /MPT/PPM/Aliança), two from PCP, one from Livre and one from BE.

The municipal executive wants the government and the capital of Lisbon to “completely” clarify statements attributed to Environment Minister Duarte Cordeiro (PS) that “the ring line can no longer materialize and give way, alternatively, to the loop line”.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Action said traffic on the Circle Line could go through an operation “commonly referred to as ‘in a loop’ or a combination of these types of operations.”

The operation of the Circle Line, as defined, provides that passengers leaving Odivelas, Senhor Roubado, Ameixoeira, Lumiar, Quinta das Conchas and Telheiras stations will have to transfer to the train at Campo Grande if they want to go to other areas of Lisbon.

With “circular” circulation, this overload is no longer necessary, and the train departing from the future Yellow Line continues to move along the new circle line.

“The decision on the operating model, simple or combined, will be determined in due course by the Metropolitano de Lisboa, supported by demand and operation studies that will confirm this,” the Ministry of the Environment added.

In a motion presented at the Chamber’s meeting, the PCP confirmed that the creation of a loop line on the Metropolitano de Lisboa network is “the wrong option”, noting that the ongoing work on its implementation affects public transport users, as “an inexplicable lack of timely planning to anticipate the consequences, impacts and measures that this work entails”.

The Circle Line will create other problems once it is in operation, “hindering mobility and access to the city, in particular for metro users who come from the municipalities of Loures and Odivelas and the counties of Lumiar and Santa Clara,” they said. in PCP. .

In the proposal, the municipal executive asks the government and the capital to provide the council with “all information on the work to expand its network (ring and red lines) and interventions aimed at technical improvements to its signaling and VIA systems planned for 2023 and 2024.”

It also asks for technical solutions that have already been used in other works of this magnitude, including “the creation of a temporary pier at Campo Grande station, improved security conditions and smoother entry and exit of Green Line trains.” [Cais do Sodré — Telheiras]”.

Among the proposed measures are the daily introduction of specific buses between interrupted sections, every day of the week and during the full time of the metro (from 06:30 to 01:00), as well as the creation of additional routes to existing ones, namely between Telheiras, Campo Grande, Cidade Universitária and Entrecampos, and between Cais do Sodré and Terreiro do Paço.

Also at the initiative of the PKP, two other proposals were approved, one in connection with the National Scientist’s Day and the other in solidarity with the struggle of teachers.

With votes against the leadership of the SDP/CDU-PP and votes for the rest, the chamber approved a vote to abandon the PKP “against anti-democratic actions aimed at conditioning the organization and rights of political parties, trade union organizations.” or others”, citing as an example the recent “siege of the headquarters of the PS”, referring to the demonstration of the Chega party.