is the 5th anniversary of CP - Comboios de Portugal reopening its Guifões workshops Fifty carriages have been restored in the workshop complex since 2020 Putting this rolling stock back into service has boosted the supply of trains and meets the growing demand from passengers for sustainable travel ‘The reopening of the Guifões workshop at a time of great difficulty had a special significance and gave CP the capacity to grow again The results are there to see and make us all proud,’ said the CP's Chairman praising the achievements of the workers over the last few years ‘With the rolling stock that has been recovered we have been able to increase passenger transport capacity and provide a better service to our customers modernising and putting rolling stock that was inoperable back into service we wouldn't have been able to meet the huge increase in demand that has taken place over the last five years,’ he said pointing out that the figures show an ever-increasing take-up of rail transport in Portugal: provisional figures for 2024 point to more than 185 million passengers being transported 12.8 million more than in the previous year The investment to refurbish and re-equip the Guifões workshops was around €2.5 million and this space has become fundamental to CP's activity which run regular services on the Douro Line (and special services on the Beira Baixa Line); 14 Sorefame carriages which also run regular services on the Douro Line; and 23 Arco carriages which ensure inter-regional services on the Minho Line and run between Valença and Figueira da Foz This workshop also carries out general overhauls on various types of railcars and many other one-off interventions It should be remembered that CP has increasingly sought to become a leader in internal mobility and a market leader in passenger transport contributing to territorial cohesion and the country's economic The strategy adopted included the reopening of workshops that had been closed for several years and the recovery and return to service of fixed rolling stock from railcars to locomotives and carriages which gave the company the capacity to respond to the large increase in passengers in recent years CP carried 126.2 million passengers and is forecast to close 2024 with 185 million passengers carried which represents an increase of more than 46% in just six years This growth reflects people's growing confidence in CP's services and recognises the efficiency of the railway as a sustainable means of transport The company's employees have been essential to achieving these good results dedication and professionalism of our workers that Comboios de Portugal continues to grow and offer an ever higher quality service to all the Portuguese,’ the Chairman of CP added Read today's Portuguese stories delivered to your email On Wednesday, April 26, the Aldi supermarket group will open its 129th store in Portugal.  The supermarket in Guifões and will be the brand's fourth store in the municipality of Matosinhos the new store required an investment of around four million euros for the brand and its construction project made it possible to improve the urban framework surrounding the store refurbish part of the Avenida Doutor Salgado Zenha "also included the creation of 37 parking spaces in the public space in addition to those that already existed before the work and the new exclusive parking lot for the store With the opening of the new store in Guifões We appreciate that not everyone can afford to pay for our services but if you are able to we ask you to support The Portugal News by making a contribution – no matter how small You can change how much you give or cancel your contributions at any time Send us your comments or opinion on this article Reaching over 400,000 people a week with news about Portugal By 2020-07-08T05:00:00+01:00 PORTUGAL: National operator CP has completed the purchase of 51 hauled coaches from Spanish counterpart RENFE as part of its efforts to mitigate an acute shortage of rolling stock when CP anticipated buying only 16 vehicles for €404 000 but the final agreement reached in late June sees CP acquire a larger fleet for €1∙6m The coaches are available because RENFE has opted to dispense with most locomotive-hauled formations for its inter-city services replacing them with high speed trainsets and inter-regional EMUs The deal marks CP’s first investment in hauled coaches since the 1980s CP plans to spend approximately €120 000 per vehicle to refurbish the stock which it says is a cheaper option than procuring new coaches at a cost of around €2m each The first batch of 18 coaches is already in Portugal RENFE having moved them to the border at Vilar Formoso from where CP hauled them to the recently-reopened Guifões workshop at Matosinhos near Porto the vehicles in the best condition could be in commercial service within three months The remaining 33 are currently located in Madrid Malaga and Bilbao and are expected to be delivered to Guifões in the coming weeks 36 were used on RENFE’s Arco conventional inter-city services at up to 220 km/h; the remaining 15 were part of the Estrella fleet and will need the most significant refurbishment work All will eventually leave Guifões sporting CP livery and branding CP leases DMUs from RENFE for use on routes including Porto - Vigo CP intends to use the vehicles to augment the 102 coaches in its Intercidades fleet used on the Faro – Lisboa – Porto corridor but the acquisition will also enable it to improve the standard of some regional services Electrification of the Minho line between Porto and Vigo is due for completion next year and loco-hauled trains could replace the 40-year old Class 592 DMUs currently used by CP on the route These sets are themselves leased from RENFE under a long-term agreement CP is making good progress with the refurbishment of 19 withdrawn Class 2600 and Class 2620 electric locomotives supplied by Alsthom and Sorefame in 1974-87 This is part of a medium-term business plan for its maintenance subsidiary EMEF to reactivate around 70 vehicles supporting efforts to improve the skills of the local supply industry PORTUGAL: CP has named Alstom and local partner Domingos da Silva Teixeira as preferred bidder for a contract to supply 117 electric multiple-units PORTUGAL: The entry into service of CP’s first ex-RENFE ARCO locomotive-hauled coaches was marked by a ceremony at Valença on July 28 attended by Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos and CP Vice-President Pedro Moreira PORTUGAL: The Council of Ministers has approved investment worth €819m to enable national passenger operator CP to call tenders for 117 regional and suburban EMUs Site powered by Webvision Cloud