There are further delays in the opening of the Portuguese new Southern TEN-T Corridor. The new Évora–Elvas–Caia link is suffering from theft and certification challenges, the national government said this week. The situation impacts freight operators and limits the rail traffic from the Port of Sines to Seville.
“There are theft and vandalism acts in the infrastructure built, concretely in catenary equipment, signalling and communication, generating further constraints, with impacts on the calendar and certification plan of activities”, the Portuguese government clarified to a group of parliamentary members from Livre [left party].
The certification process of the 90-kilometre new rail track is also delayed because of the “lack of independent entities” in Portugal and the “growing procurement for foreign companies” in other European countries, the government adds.
Last June, a national newspaper reported that the Évora-Elvas rail track would only operate at the end of 2027 due to certification issues.
Rail freight is surprised
The latest updates are an additional reason for concern from the Portuguese freight operators, represented by the APEF association. “The delay in the Évora–Elvas railway is unfortunate. We were surprised to learn about the theft”, APEF’s executive director, Miguel Rebelo de Sousa, tells RailFreight.com.
Freight traffic is suffering several constraints lately, according to Rebelo de Sousa, since the beginning of the Vendas Novas line modernisation works. That line allows goods to move from the south to the centre and the north of Portugal, given the capacity limitations of the 25 de Abril bridge in Lisbon.
“If we had the Évora–Elvas new track, it would be much easier to run freight trains. It is a very good route for goods moving from the Port of Sines to the Spanish border and, then, to Seville, with fewer costs”, the APEF director adds.
In the present scenario, freight trains must use the Leste rail track, from Entroncamento to Elvas, which is not electrified and requires more time and kilometres. In response to the new developments, APEF demands “answers and predictability” from IP to not lose customers to road alternatives.
With the new link in place, freight trains leaving the Port of Sines would take one and a half hours less compared to today. The new track should also allow up to 51 750-metre-long trains every day, more than doubling the capacity of the current number of 36 400-metre-long trains. In the first stage, the new Évora–Elvas link will have a single track, despite the corridor being prepared to receive a side track depending on demand.
Track of delays
After construction, the new track has to meet technical, interoperability, and safety requirements at the national and European levels. In Portugal, the national railway safety authority ANSF supervises that process. By now, the national infrastructure manager IP has started dynamic tests with Comboios de Portugal (CP) rolling stock limited to 200 km/h.
However, Évora–Elvas is the first rail track in Portugal with a high-performance catenary system, suitable for 300 km/h trains. That will require the leasing of a high-speed train from Spain, which has not happened yet.
In 2016, IP expected that the new 90-kilometre track would be completed by the end of 2019. The problems started early in the project, with “lack of quality” in the study and project development. At the time, IP did not consider the necessity of an environmental evaluation and the interactions with the authorities in that department.
The delays spread to the tender stage, due to the project’s “high complexity” and “many contenders”, which, in some cases, did not present valid proposals and forced a new tender. Also, some appeals suspended the construction for several months, IP highlighted.