Oeiras, Portugal, July 3, 2025 (Lusa) - The dedicated tramway (BRT) linking the municipalities of Lisbon and Oeiras, with a total investment of around €93.5 million, is due to start operating in 2028, it was announced on Thursday.
The "Lisbon-Oeiras Rapid Transport" is based on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT or MetroBus) technology, featuring electric buses, which enables the doubling of connections on the Alcântara-Agés and Benfica-Algés routes. The new connections will be made on a dedicated channel along a 21-kilometre route with 29 stops.
A total investment of around €93.5 million is planned, with an estimated €58.6 million in funding under the EU's Sustainable 2030 programme.
The project was presented today at the Carris facilities in Miraflores, in the presence of the mayors of Lisbon and Oeiras, Carlos Moedas and Isaltino Morais, respectively, the minister of infrastructure and housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, as well as the president of the Mobility and Transport Authority, Ana Paula Vitorino, and officials from Carris, Transportes Metropolitana de Lisboa.
According to the mayor of Oeiras, Isaltino Morais, this is a "fundamental means of transport" for the municipality, as well as "naturally for Lisbon", with implications for the entire Lisbon Metropolitan Area.
"It will create the conditions for much more flexible mobility, creating the conditions for parallel measures to be taken to move away from individual transport," the mayor recognised, recalling that this is a project that "had already been tried, but hadn't made it off the drawing board".
According to Isaltino Morais, "there is no difficulty in implementing it", arguing that the route "has been defined for many years" and that the first idea for the project "dates back to before the 25th of April".
Isaltino Morais also recalled that in the past, there was more talk of "technical solutions and the will of the mayors of Oeiras, Lisbon and Amadora, but in reality, there was never any enthusiasm or will on the part of the government to make it a reality".
Today, the mayor recognises that "only government intervention can make this type of project viable", which is multi-municipal, covering "territories of different municipalities, and that's how it should be, because borders don't limit the entry of people, cars and public transport".
"So, if it hasn't been done so far, it's because there hasn't been enough political will on the part of the government to say to the municipalities: let's get together, each one will do their part of this work, and we'll get started. Well, those conditions have now been met, and that's a good thing. I'm very happy and I think it's good, especially for the citizens of Oeiras and the Lisbon area," he said.
Isaltino Morais also said that the project could be operated by Carris, which operates the public road service in Lisbon.
For his part, Carlos Moedas praised the work of his counterpart from Oeiras, pointing out that Isaltino Morais "looks at his municipality, but also the entire Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML)".
"He thinks [of the whole AML]. Sometimes we don't think about AML. We depend on each other and work together. We have a goal in mind: our population. Today is proof of the union between Lisbon and Oeiras," emphasised Carlos Moedas.
According to Carlos Moedas, conditions will be provided so that "90,000 people" can have an alternative to using their own vehicles, "uniting the city [of Lisbon] with its neighbours" through "16 fully electric buses in a dedicated corridor".
Miguel Pinto Luz said this is a project that the central government must "support, facilitate and interact with".
He pointed out that, since 2021, "more people are using the A5" and, therefore, it is necessary to "act with other measures to reduce the use of public transport".
"We have to change our cities, centred on the human being, and public transport has to be resilient, with more quality, predictability," said Pinto Luz, stressing the need to act on demand.
After conducting preliminary studies to define the strategy and assess economic viability, it is expected that the environmental impact assessment and project contracting and execution will be completed in 2026. The contracting of the works and commencement of construction are anticipated for 2027, with operations commencing in 2028.
According to the demand study, this is estimated at 22,000 passengers a day, with 27% new public transport users.
A journey between Algés and the Colégio Militar will take 24 minutes, compared to 37 minutes today, while the journey between Linda-a-Velha and Alcântara will decrease from 35 minutes today to 22 minutes.
Additionally, according to preliminary studies, the project is expected to prevent 4,000 vehicles a day from entering the areas where it operates and reduce CO2 emissions by 38,700 tonnes over 30 years.
RCP/ADB // ADB.
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