Latest news and stories about high speed rail in government in Vila Nova de Gaia, 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.
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.
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.
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...
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...
