The Sintra train line notched up the greatest number of complaints, mostly because of trains being withdrawn, and, overall, Deco estimates delays have caused passengers to lose around 3,100 hours of time that they could have spent with family or at work.
Between 11 February and 19 September ,Deco received 2,325 complaints regarding public transport, said Ana Sofia Ferreira, head of the watchdog’s Consumer Support bureau.
“The main grievances relate to road transport, which was responsible for more than 60 percent of complaints. Then there is rail transport, with over 17 percent, and the Metro, with over 14 percent”, she explained.
As Europe marks European Mobility Week, Ms. Ferreira said the majority of complaints regarding the country’s subways are about the Lisbon Metro.
She added, grumbles about hygiene, comfort and quality of transports as well as stations have risen in recent times, with stations also being frequently bemoaned for a lack of maintenance in bathrooms and escalators as well as lifts that are out of order.
To probe the claims, Deco took it upon itself to conduct a check on the punctuality and frequency of suburban trains.
“For ten days in May this year we observed suburban trains circulating on all lines in Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra, with arrivals at these destinations between 7am and 10.30am”, Ana Sofia Ferreira explained, adding that of the 170 trains checked every day, or a total of 1,700, the Cascais and Sintra lines were the worst performers.
“What we concluded is that there are some delays and some reductions of carriages. We found that the Cascais line suffered the most delays, but Sintra had the greatest number of trains withdrawn. In 10 days, Sintra withdrew 12 trains at peak rush hours”, she elaborated.
Breakdowns or anomalies were the main causes for this, she said, along with problems with infrastructures.
“These situations cannot continue to be mere constrictions in the life of passengers, who notch up some 3,100 hours lost in work or family time, all over the country, but with a large incidence within Metropolitan Lisbon.”
Ana Sofia Ferreira further stressed that between 11 February and 19 September, more than 6,700 consumers have enrolled on the transport complaints platform: www.queixasdostransportes.pt and signed the association’s proposed Collective Public Transport Passenger Rights Charter.