High-speed rail line aims to connect Porto to Lisbon

The first section is expected to be completed in 2028.

What is known about the beginning of the high-speed rail line.

The parliament debates this Tuesday, in plenary, several draft resolutions on the Porto – Lisbon high-speed rail line, whose tender for the first section, Porto – Oiã (Oliveira do Bairro, Aveiro district), may be launched this month.

In pre-election time, the topic now appears on the media agenda of the parties, but it was already presented in September 2022 by the Government, as well as the Environmental Impact Studies for the first phase, Porto – Soure, were launched and approved.

Here are some questions and answers on the topic:

What is high-speed rail line project?

Publicly presented by the Government for the first time in September 2022 at Campanhã station, Porto, by the Prime Minister, António Costa, and by the then Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, the project promises to connect Porto and Lisbon in 1h15.

At stake is the connection between the two cities, as well as possible stops in Vila Nova de Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra and Leiria, in some cases with the construction of new stations, and in others with the use of the current ones, with interconnection with the Northern Line.

The new rail corridor will be connected to the entire current national rail network, being able to cross services and reduce travel times on other lines in the country, such as Minho, Douro, Beira Alta or Beira Baixa.

At the same time, work is also being done on the connection between Porto and Vigo, in Galicia (Spain), with stations at Francisco Sá Carneiro, Braga and Valença airport (district of Viana do Castelo).

What can be put out to tender?

The project is divided into three phases: Porto – Soure section (Coimbra district), Soure – Carregado (municipality of Alenquer, Lisbon district) and Carregado – Lisbon.

The first phase was further subdivided into two lots, the first of which corresponds to Porto – Oiã, in the district of Aveiro, whose intention to launch a public tender by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) was already published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) in November.

In that publication, the launch of the tender had a reference date of January 15, but with the fall of the Government, the executive decided to listen to the PSD, in order to be able to launch a tender even if it is in management.

What does the first section consist of?

The route in question corresponds to 71 kilometers (km) between Porto and Oiã, on a line prepared for 300 km/hour.

The project includes the reformulation of the Campanhã station in Porto, the construction of a new road-rail bridge with two decks over the Douro River, the construction of a new underground station in Santo Ovídio (Gaia), with connection to the Porto Metro, and the 17-kilometre connection to the current Northern Line in Canelas (Estarreja). thus allowing the high-speed train to reach the current Aveiro station.

The project also includes a bi-tube tunnel of about six kilometres that will run through the subsoil of much of the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia, as well as 15 bridges for double track, two bridges for single track, eight viaducts for double track, 10 viaducts for single track, five single-tube tunnels and an electrical substation in Canelas.

In Gaia and Porto, the projects for the urban insertion of the stations will be in charge of the Catalan architect and urban planner Joan Busquets. In Porto, the Campanhã Urbanization Plan is even being designed, which should reformulate the entire area, going beyond the mere adaptation of the station to the location.

What is the model to develop the project?

Since the Government presented the project, the financing model has been defined: public-private partnerships (PPP).

Specifically, according to the information provided by IP in the Official Journal of the European Union, the development phase “includes the conception, design, construction and financing” of the section between Porto and Oiã.

The contract will include the concession for 30 years, in two phases: “development, with five years, for the conception, design, construction and financing of the infrastructure”, as well as the “availability, with 25 years, for maintenance and availability of the assets”.

The project will also be able to count on the help of European funds. PS and PSD were divided on the need to launch the tender to raise about 730 million euros of funds from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF).

The PSD said it had doubts as to whether, for the application for European funds, it would be necessary to launch the tender now, but the PS argues that, in the past, it has already launched an application for funds that, because it was not sufficiently mature and did not launch a tender, was not selected, so it defends the launch of the public tender.

Meanwhile, today, the PSD announced today that it will vote in favor of the PS resolution to start the tender for the Porto-Lisbon high-speed line because “it will never be an obstacle” to development, but it refers responsibilities for the solution to the PS.

How much will the line cost?

Regarding the Porto-Oiã section, the estimated cost is around €1.65 billion, of which €500 million will be financed by European funds, according to the Environmental Impact Assessment launched in May 2023. The Oiã-Soure section is estimated at €1.3 billion.

In total, the Porto – Lisbon project is estimated to cost €4.5 billion.

What service will be provided when the line is ready?

When the project was presented in September 2022, the vice-president of IP, Carlos Fernandes, said that the line will allow to “triple” the offer, providing 60 daily services, as well as demand, estimating that the number of passengers will increase from six to 16 million.

At the time, the head of IP predicted that of the 60 daily services on the high-speed line, 17 will be direct, nine will have stops at intermediate stations and 34 will be mixed services, that is, services that use, in part, the high-speed line and in another the conventional line.

In addition to the 60 daily services, there are 17 services of the conventional intercity network, setting the offer at “about 77 services per day that compare well with the 25 services that currently circulate on the Northern line”.

What are the deadlines for completion of the works?

The first phase, corresponding to the Porto – Soure section, should be ready in 2028, with the possibility of connecting to the Northern Line and immediately shortening the travel time, and the connection to Carregado by the new high-speed line is expected to be completed in 2030.

The connection between Carregado and Lisbon, as it is more financially costly, despite the short distance, may be completed later.

What are the consequences of building the line?

The environmental impact study of the Porto – Oiã section, approved in August, indicates that more than 100 houses may be demolished for its construction, although the detailed detailed design is not known.

To the north of Aveiro, the project generated several criticisms from mayors not only because of the houses to be demolished, but also because several municipalities are already crossed by other means of communication.

For example, Estarreja has already defended the “zero alternative” to the construction of the high-speed line, arguing that the municipality is already crossed by the Northern Line and two motorways (A1 and A29), in addition to a gas pipeline, and will be even more “shredded”.

The mayor of Feira, Emídio Sousa, has also said that the route proposals did not take into account projects that represent “100 million euros and 1,200 jobs” in investments already planned for the areas to be expropriated, namely in the expansion areas of the LusoPark business park.

In Porto, it is also expected that about 40 homes may be affected in the Freixo area, next to the entrance of the new road-rail bridge at Campanhã station.

What is the state of play?

At the Council of Ministers on December 7th, the Government decided that the route of the future high-speed rail line between Porto and Soure, part of the Lisbon-Porto line, was “reserved” by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) for two years.

Specifically, “preventive measures” were approved so that urban operations do not take place on the section of the high-speed line without the prior opinion of IP.