Latest news and stories about high speed rail in government in Porto, Portugal for expats and residents.
Frente Cívica has urged the Government to enforce the high-speed rail concession contract in Vila Nova de Gaia, demanding the planned Santo Ovídio station location remain unchanged despite reported pushback from the Mota-Engil consortium.
The Vila Nova de Gaia City Council has declined to join opposition councillors in a collective effort to lobby the Portuguese Environment Agency regarding the reduction of demolitions and the placement of a high-speed rail station.
The Mota‑Engil‑led consortium plans to submit a revised environmental project to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) for the two Porto–Lisbon high‑speed (TGV) subsections in Gaia that the APA deemed non‑compliant on 20 December. The new submission is expected by the end of Q1; it must address the APA’s compliance concerns — likely shortcomings in environmental impact assessment, mitigation measures or route design — for the scheme to progress. Approval timing will be decisive for the project’s schedule and costs: if the APA accepts the revisions, the programme can move on to later permitting and procurement stages; further objections or additional information requests would delay construction and raise political and commercial risks for the consortium.
At issue is the station's location, as the contract signed between Infraestruturas de Portugal and the concessionaire AVAN stipulates that the stop will be in Santo Ovídio, with a connection to two metro lines.
The Portuguese consortium led by Mota-Engil, which won the concession for the first section of the High-Speed Rail between Porto and Oiã, reiterated its commitment to the project's execution this Monday, stating its desire to extend the Portuguese participation beyond Oiã. “We are starting to make a mission that was successively delayed for the country a reality,” highlighted the CEO of...
The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing responded on Monday, October 12, to remarks from former Prime Minister Passos Coelho—who admitted in an interview with SIC that he is considering a return to political life—by stating that the Government is absolutely convinced of its current path. “There is no discomfort whatsoever. The Government is absolutely convinced of the path it is taking. It is the path the Portuguese people invited us to take. It was the path that Luís Montenegro said he would follow,” Miguel Pinto Luz told journalists on the sidelines of the groundbreaking ceremony for the first section of the High-Speed Rail line between Porto (Campanhã) and Oiã. “I was a member, with great honour, of the Passos Coelho government. I am a member, with great honour, of the Montenegro government. There are two things they have in common: an enormous commitment to Portugal. Now, one thing is certain: we do not have to agree on every single matter. There are moments when we disagree. That is healthy,” he added. Even so, Pinto Luz warned that “not listening to Passos Coelho, who was prime minister of Portugal during such a difficult period in the country's life, would be almost an act of folly.” Passos says that the State “no longer has the authority” to save the SNS (National Health Service) and criticises Montenegro's strategy.
Gaia will have the deepest high-speed station in the world, highlights the CEO of Casais. António Carlos Rodrigues points to this factor and others encountered during ground prospecting work to justify the proposed changes - since rejected by the APA - put forward by the LusoLav consortium, which will build the first section of the high-speed line between Porto and Lisbon, corresponding to the route between Porto and Oiã, and which has applied to build the second section between Oiã and Soure.
The increase in metro service frequency and car traffic to the planned parking facility 'will overload the crossing of Avenida da República', according to the Gaia City Council.
Construction of the high-speed rail line connecting Porto and Lisbon can now proceed. The Portuguese Environment Agency has given the green light to the first section.
The project complies with the Environmental Impact Statement. In 2025, IP and the LusoLav consortium signed the concession contract for the line. The line is expected to connect Porto and Lisbon in 1 hour and 32 minutes by 2032.
Mayors Pedro Duarte and Luís Filipe Menezes promise to use their influence to stop the construction of the road deck on the dual-purpose bridge over the Douro River for the Porto–Lisbon high-speed rail line, should the plan proceed. The two mayors of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia guarantee that...
The revised project for the high-speed rail line raises the underground station in Gaia by 6 metres, reduces the tunnel length, resulting in more surface impact, and returns to a single gantry-style bridge instead of an arch design.
The changes that the AVAN Norte consortium wanted to make to the high-speed rail project in the municipality contributed to the expiration of the PUC.
Miguel Pinto Luz was heard by the Infrastructure, Mobility and Housing committee following a request from the PS regarding the change in location of the Vila Nova de Gaia station.
Vila Nova de Gaia City Council will vote this Tuesday on a protocol for the high-speed rail line consortium to build the Connecting Road 3 (VL3) between Laborim and Vilar do Paraíso as a 'compensatory measure' granted to the municipality. The design, planning, and execution of the VL3 road section constitutes a...
The consortium is reformulating execution projects for the station in Gaia and the entry into Porto, while maintaining the 2030 completion date. Construction on this section is expected to begin in the third quarter.
Eduardo Souto de Moura has refused to design the architecture for the high-speed train station in Gaia, ECO has learned. The architect, chosen by the AVAN Norte consortium for the first section of the TGV between Porto and Lisbon, has been highly critical of the construction of an underground station in Santo Ovídio, considering...
The Council of Ministers approved on Wednesday the expenditure for the new international public tender for the second public-private partnership (PPP) of the high-speed line Porto - Lisbon, after the first was annulled by the jury. In a press conference, the Minister of the Presidency stated that 'new phases' of the Porto - ... were approved.
