The Independent Technical Committee (CTI) for the investigation into the new airport clarified that road and rail access must be paid for by the developer, but the high-speed rail line and the Third Tagus Bridge will be covered by other funding sources.
“The road and rail infrastructure connecting the new airport to the existing road network, or to the existing rail networks, programmed and/or planned in accordance with the National Rail Plan, is to be paid for by the respective airport promoter,” the CTI explained. , published on the website aeroparticipa.pt, answers 51 questions that have frequently arisen during the ongoing public consultation process.
The question “who pays for accessibility?”, as well as questions related to the high-speed project envisaged in the National Railway Plan, or the third bridge over the Tagus, are among the most common “in various media, or in messages published sent directly to the CTI,” the committee said.
“In the case of road connections involving highways under Brisa’s operation, the relevant concession contract applies […] provides that the costs of these connections will be borne by the concessionaire,” the committee led by Rosário Partidário also clarified.
In response to the question “why did the Strategic Environmental Assessment not take into account the costs of the High Speed and Third Tagus Crossing Project in the Campo de Tiro de Alcochete location option?”, the CTI said that these are costs that raise concerns “solely and exclusively the implementation of the National Railway Plan (PFN) and the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), which are covered by other sources of financing that have nothing to do with the creation (or not) of the airport “.
When asked whether “the location of the airport in Alcochete makes the high-speed (AV) project foreseen in the National Railway Plan more expensive”, the group of experts answered negatively, since that plan foresees “two options for the connection with Lisbon in AV , one on the left bank and the other on the right bank”.
“According to Infrastructures of Portugal, the estimated investment cost for the alternative on the Right Bank amounts to 1,200 million euros, while on the Left Bank it amounts to 850 million euros,” he stressed, adding that “the location of the airport in Campo de Tiro de Alcochete is undergoing changes by shortening the length of the right bank route, with the prospect of a slight reduction in the expected total investment value’.
The CTI also clarified that the Campo de Tiro de Alcochete airport could move forward and operate without rail access and only with road access, if the high-speed rail and Third Tagus crossing projects do not progress in the coming decades, “until similarity. in fact to the airport project in Montijo presented by ANA”.
The CTI responsible for the strategic environmental assessment for increasing airport capacity in the Lisbon region presented the preliminary report on December 5, which will serve as the basis for the government decision on the new airport.
The committee considered that of the nine options examined, Alcochete is the one with the most benefit, with a first phase in a dual model with Humberto Delgado Airport and then the transition to a single infrastructure on the south bank of the Tagus River.
The Vendas Novas option was also considered viable along the same lines, first in a dual model and then to a single airport.
The preliminary report will be publicly consulted until January 26.
Source: DN
