In the wake of this change of affairs, the Metro announced it was removing seats in order to better accommodate demand. A move which it now clarifies to have started in 2017 in an effort to enhance the versatility of carriage spaces, which could be further used for the transportation of children or luggage.


Additionally, seat-removal also allows for the enhancement of the speed at which trains circulate, consequently reducing waiting times and increasing the frequency with which trains stop at each station.


The clarification comes after the government’s Programme for the Aid in Reducing Tariffs in Public Transportation (PART), has been blamed for a sharp rise in public transportation users. An increase which, some say, the infrastructure in place was not ready to cope with.


The Lisbon Metro vowed to “monitor its services continuously and every time there are significant variations in demand, even if occasionally, to adopt adequate changes to its operations”.