Hello Sagres, not before time the rail system in this part of Portugal has been a let down for a long time, although cheap it is very slow and in most cases to far out of town's to use. So this has got to be good news for the holidaymaker as well as the locals.

Dave

Dave,
In fairness,it's hardly the fault of the railway authorities.The railway was predominantly used for freight - produce from canning factories - and was never intended as a mass tourist transportation network;in fact many of what are now sizeable resorts were only fishing villages when the railway was inaugurated and mass tourism (well,tourism of any kind,actually) had never been envisaged.
However,as you say,any updating has got to be good news, especially as regards the intention to run the line through the airport;it's only to be hoped that the taxi firms, at the resorts where the railway is some distance from the towns, react to the situation and position taxi ranks at the stations so everyone can benefit.

Hello there.The plan involves the contruction of metrolink or the improvement of the railway network.I think the link to Faro airport(this idea is been discussed from before the euro-2004) would be a great idea and also a line going trough the main touristic areas would be great.

I have read in the magazine Modern Railways that there is a long-term plan to connect the Portuguese and Spanish systems by continuing the line of the existing Algarve line, across the river into Spain. This may even be turned into a high-speed line.

On the subject of railways. Has the new Lagos station finally been opened ? I must admit I have a certain fondness for the old station and its wonderful tile decoration.

Yes,the new station is now up and running.It's very modern and not my personal cup of tea.The old station was one of those buildings that,wherever in the world you saw it,it would be instantly recognizeable as a railway station.When we passed it in December,it was being used as a snack-bar !!

Hello all, so things look like they are moving with the rail links all for the good, the last time we were in Albufeira we went by bus to Lagos but would like to know is how long does it take from Albufeira to Lagos by train and are there great views going this way.

Dave

Once you have got to the station in Albufeira which hopefully you appreciate is a fair distance from the tourist centre of Albufeira (you would not want to walk it in August) the train if you pick a slow one (stops at all stations) would take 40 minutes (I,m open to correction on that but thats not far off). The route is reasonably scenic and compared with UK trains a right bargain!

Albufeira to Lagos by train is about 1 hour 10 minutes but the station called Albufeira is 4 miles from town in the village of Ferreiras. There are buses to the station but the majority do not connect with the trains.

The plan to build a rail line connecting the Algarve and Spain has been kicking around for years but is currently shelved for lack of funds. Priority is being given to a high speed line connecting Lisbon, Porto and Madrid. This seems sensible given that the present demand for public transport between Algarve and Seville is covered by four buses a day!