The Prime Minister, António Costa, guaranteed in Gondomar on Friday that work on the high-speed line between Lisbon and Vigo “will be finished”, despite it being an investment “that was thought would never be made”.
“It is a gigantic investment that is taking place throughout the country and that will reach its peak, and it was also a project that was thought would never be done, and it will be done, namely the high-speed connection between Lisbon and Porto. between Porto and Vigo, and certainly one day also between Porto and Lisbon and the rest of Europe,” António Costa said on Friday at the Gondomar Municipal Auditorium (Porto district).
The Prime Minister spoke about investments in rail during the presentation ceremony for the expansion of the Porto metro network, which consists of the lines ISMAI – Muro – Trofa (metro to Muro and ‘metrobus’ to Paradela), Gondomar II (Dragão – Souto), Maia II (Roberto Frias – Parque Maia – Airport) and São Mamede (IPO – Estádio do Mar), during a ceremony also attended by the Minister of Environment and Climate Action and the mayors of the region.
António Costa emphasized that the “largest investment in railways that the country has had” has not only been ongoing in recent decades, but also emphasized that “the investment in the line between Sines and Caia alone is the largest investment in the last 100 years is in the railway”.
The head of government also highlighted the electrification of the Douro line up to Marco de Canaveses, in the district of Porto, and also the electrification of the Minho line up to Viana do Castelo, and the line has also already been electrified up to Valença (district of Viana of the castle).
The Lisbon-Porto high-speed project, with an estimated cost of around 4.5 billion euros, provides a connection between the two cities in one hour and 15 minutes, with possible stops in Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro and Gaia.
The development of the project and the construction of the first phase (Porto – Soure) is planned for the periods between 2024 and 2028, and the Soure – Carregado (the connection with Lisbon will be developed later) between 2026 and 2030.
At the same time, depending on coordination with Spain, the Porto-Vigo connection is also being developed with a new connection to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport and the Braga-Valença section (Viana do Castelo district) by 2030.
Source: DN
