As with Carris, in Lisbon, Carlos Carreiras, the mayor of Cascais, in statements to the Público newspaper, says that the municipality is available to take over the management of the railway line, taking into account the degradation of the service. and the lack of State investment:
We are open to any kind of solution that solves this serious problem. There is even availability, if you wish, to lease the line to the town councils in Cascais, Oeiras and Lisbon. If the others don't want to, Cascais is ready to take the concession.
Statements that follow the same lines as an opinion article published by the newspaper i, in which it even adds an alternative solution for the Cascais railway line, the BRT, or Bus Rapid Transit:
Faced with the bankruptcy of the Cascais Line, there is no more time to lose: we have to launch the BRT (bus rapid transit) in two axes: on the A5, in a dedicated lane; and in the current channel space of the CP line, which should be transferred to the management of the autarchies.
What is Bus Rapid Transit?
The closest analogy is to imagine a surface metro, but with buses instead of trains. In other words, a “closed” system, with exclusive lanes and ticket offices outside the vehicles, to speed up the entry and exit of passengers. And when there is no other way than to cross another road, they have priority over all other vehicles.
It is already in use in several cities around the world, whose benefits of BRT translate into the combination of the capacity and speed of a subway system, with the flexibility, simplicity and lower costs of a bus system.
The implementation of BRT on the Cascais line would require the requalification of the channel through which the trains circulate, but, as Carlos Carreiras also refers to Público, the BRT "it is the limit solution, although it is the one that we would least like to have “. But he recognizes the advantages of BRT: “From an environmental point of view, it is as or more favorable than the rail solution. And it has an additional advantage: you can walk either in the channel-space or outside it”.
"Whatever the solution, there has to be a solution"
There is no lack of projects for the Cascais railway line — many have already been announced in the last 20 years, without, however, leaving the paper — focusing on the modernization of lines, signaling systems, telecommunications and, of course, the renovation of trains — currently, they are among the oldest in circulation in the CP fleet. A public tender for the acquisition of new trains is planned shortly, but it should take, at best, three years to see them in circulation.
Source: Public; Newspaper i
Image: Flickr; CC BY-SA 2.0