The modernization works on the Vendas Novas line, which initially started in 2020, were salvaged in recent weeks by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP). The manager of the national rail network received new government permission to invest in the most important freight transport channel between the north and south of the country. The 69 kilometer long line, established in 1904, connects the Northern Line (in Setil, municipality of Cartaxo) with the Alentejo Line (in Vendas Novas).
The budget for the entire project is 183.9 million euros, of which 73.4% corresponds to the modernization of the line, a total of 135 million euros. Work on the 69 kilometers will mainly take place between 2025 and 2028, as stated in the expenditure authorization of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure – the document was signed at the end of September, but only published after the resignation of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Infrastructure.
The 135 million euros for the modernization of the line is 58.8% above the October 2020 budget of 85 million. The government included this undertaking in the Economic and Social Stabilization Plan, which was announced after the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The public tender was launched in November that year, but was eventually halted after three deadline extension announcements. Before that, in August 2019, IP planned to launch the modernization of the line later that year, according to statements made by the company’s vice president, Carlos Fernandes, to the press.
Source: DN
