Passenger transport on the railway grew 17% in the first quarter, but metro continues to lead
Passenger transport in Portugal increased, in the first quarter of 2024, 5.9% by air, 17% by train, 5% by metro and 8% by river, compared to the same quarter of 2023, according to data released this Thursday by INE (National Institute of Statistics).
Despite having the lowest percentage growth, the metro continues to be the transport that moves the most passengers.
By air, “49.6 thousand aircraft landed at national airports on commercial flights†, with a total movement of 13.6 million passengers (5.9% more than in the first quarter of 2023). Humberto Delgado airport (Lisbon) concentrated 55.1% of this movement. In terms of cargo and mail, around 60 thousand tons were transported, an increase of 13.6%.
In the case of rail transport, 51.8 million passengers were transported, 17% more, of which 47.5 million passengers were on suburban trains and 4.3 million passengers on interurban trains. In the quarter analyzed, the transport of goods by rail stood at 2.2 million tons, 6.5% less than in the same period.
67.9 million passengers were transported in the metro, 5% more than in the first quarter of 2023. The increase was due to the growth recorded in January and February 2024, as in March 2024 the number of passengers transported by metro decreased 3.3% year-on-year, according to INE. The majority of passengers were transported in Lisbon (42.3 million), followed by Porto (20.7 million) and then South of the Tagus (4.9 million).
By river, passenger transport grew 8%, to 5.2 million, the majority of whom crossed the Tagus (4.9 million). In terms of merchandise, in the quarter under analysis 2980 commercial vessels entered national ports, corresponding to a movement of 20.6 million tons of merchandise (2.5% more), the majority through from the port of Sines (10.6 million tons).
