The European Commission has approved an investment of €60 million from the Cohesion Fund to convert an old railway line into a route for electric buses connecting Coimbra with the municipalities of Lousã and Miranda do Corvo and the village of Serpins, in Portugal.
The new line will also make it easier for people to travel between central Coimbra, the hospitals and university in the northern part of the city, and the peripheral areas to the southeast.
With 13 million passengers per year estimated to use the new transport system, the project will help reduce congestion, traffic-related noise and carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.
Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, commented: “This project will provide citizens from Coimbra and the Coimbra region with much deserved clean, safe and efficient transport services. It will offer a more attractive public transport that will reduce travel times and pollution, and improve comfort and the quality of air.”
The new buses will form part of a multimodal public transport system under a single tariff and ticketing system that will make them more attractive to use.
The project is expected to be operational in early 2024. 2021 being the ‘EU Year of Rail‘ will lead to a lot of regional and local improvements in the area of transport.
