Mr Oliveira regretted the “intransigence of the infrastructure manager, adding that the wage rise the company offered on Saturday was in some cases less than €2 a month.

“It does not make sense that this company offers a different solution from train operator CP, where there was an interim wage increase until the collective bargaining agreement has been completed”, he said.

The IP workers are on strike today demanding wage increases of about 4%, which would guarantee at least another €40 a month for each worker and the trains are expected to be significantly affected with disturbances and cancellations.

Train operator CP – Comboios de Portugal, which would have run 463 trains by 10:30, only operated 137.

The arbitration court had stipulated that 25% of services had to be maintained as a minimum service.