“This project is a true structuring project for the articulation between three municipalities that, being neighbours, are in practice at a huge distance if they are not properly articulated, said the Prime Minister, António Costa, in Olhão.

The light metro between Olhão, Faro and Loulé will be 38km long and have 24 stops, serving around 185,000 residents in the three municipalities (40% of the Algarve population), of which 70,000 will live less than 600 metres from a stop.

According to the previous study, around 40,000 trips can be made per day, with possible extensions of the line to Albufeira and Fuseta being studied.

“I am well aware that it is not always easy for the municipalities to understand each other to work together, especially on a project that does not specifically serve any of them but that only makes total sense serving the three together”, concluded António Costa.

For his part, the president of the Commission for Coordination and Development (CCDR) of the Algarve, José Apolinário, underlined that the presentation ceremony meant the “kick-off” of a project in which the Algarve people have the “ambition to advance” a project.

CCDR do Algarve is the entity that developed the study on light rail on the Loulé, Faro and Olhão axis, where five possibilities of route variants were evaluated, as well as different technological options.