António Salvado, coordinator of the Independent Trade Union of Railway, Infrastructure and Related Industries (SINFA), said on Thursday that the incident on the train at Benfica station could have happened at any time, recalling supply problems at the company.
The CP train, which was still full on Wednesday, the day the company’s workers were on strike, was stopped for more than an hour a kilometer from Lisbon’s Benfica station and some passengers felt unwell, he told Lusa, a police source.
In the meantime, CP – Comboios de Portugal announced that it had begun an internal assessment of the incident, during which the passenger raised the alarm.
The train, which traveled from Lisbon to Sintra, was part of the minimum service imposed due to Wednesday’s strike and ran “with a delay of 45 minutes as a result of assistance provided to passengers during the immediately preceding trip,” said carrier. stressed too..
In a conversation with Lusa, António Salvado suggested that the strike could have influenced what happened, but emphasized that the situation could have happened at any time.
“The main problem will be different and related to the lack of supplies. Yesterday’s situation has yet to be determined. and caused this situation. I cannot say that the strike could not have influenced what happened, but there are other questions,” he said.
The SINFA coordinator highlighted the problem of insufficient trains, as well as the fact that the cost of tickets has decreased, which has led to more people using public transport.
“Before the pandemic [de covid-19] trains in Lisbon’s city limits were all running under these conditions: overcrowded, without conditions, and with people standing on platforms and unable to get on the trains. This situation had never happened before, and it coincided with the strike. I don’t think it happened because of the strike, as it happened before,” he said.
According to the trade unionist, this situation has already happened during peak hours due to breakdown or suppression.
CP workers started new strikes on Monday when the carrier warned of “serious unrest” until this Thursday to protest a “stalemate” in wage negotiations, which also involves Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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