Lisbon, Nov. 14, 2025 (Lusa) – The partial strike by CP’s ticket inspectors and ticket office staff, which began on 3 November and ended on Thursday, led to the cancellation of 30 Intercidades trains, according to the Itinerant Commercial Railway Union (SFRCI).

In a statement, the union said that “during the strike period, around 30 Intercidades trains were cancelled”, a situation that it believes would have been “avoidable if the management had shown a real desire to resolve the problems identified”.

“The SFRCI reaffirms its responsible and good faith trade union stance over the last 27 months, in contrast to the attitude of non-compliance and lack of dialogue on the part of CP’s management,” it said.

The union recalled that the main reasons for the strike were the “failure to comply with the agreement signed on 25 July 2023, specifically the part relating to the humanisation of service schedules”, as well as what it considers to be “serious” safety issues, such as “trains larger than the length of the platforms, making it difficult to get on and off safely and overcrowding of trains, with passengers forced to travel standing up, including on Intercidades services”.

The organisation also criticises the “late response to faults reported by train inspectors, especially in carriages running on Intercidades trains”.

CP said at the start of the strike that it was “fully complying with the labour agreement” signed with the union and rejected any safety failures, assuring that “all maintenance work is carried out in accordance with the Maintenance Manual”.

For its part, the union disputes the operator’s position, arguing that it has not complied with the rostering agreement, saying that “it doesn’t correspond to reality”.

In addition, CP “says it doesn’t jeopardise customer safety, but continues to operate trains longer than the station platforms” and “claims to comply with the scheduled maintenance plans, which is not in question”, it stressed.

For the union, “the problem is the delay in intervening in unforeseen breakdowns, which remain without timely repair”.

“CP has said nothing about the overcrowding of Intercidades trains, which is, for us, a tacit admission of the veracity of the complaint” and “it claims to have hired 28 ticket inspectors by 2025, but fails to mention how many have retired, moved to other categories or left the job due to occupational illnesses”.

“The Board of Directors claims to be available for dialogue with the SFRCI, yet it ignores the request for a meeting submitted on 27 August 2025, to which it has still not responded,” it concluded.

ALN/ADB // ADB.

Lusa