Lisbon, July 29, 2025 (Lusa) - The first high-speed rail concession, whose contract the parties signed on Tuesday, provides for a new station in Santo Ovídio, Vila Nova de Gaia, according to a statement from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).
“Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) is promoting the Porto-Oiã section, which will include 71 kilometres of new high-speed rail infrastructure; a new station in Santo Ovídio (Vila Nova de Gaia); adaptation of Campanhã Station for high-speed services;” a new bridge over the River Douro; connections to the Northern Line near Canelas and a new electric traction substation in the Estarreja area,” reads the note sent by the EIB and IP after the signing of the concession contract with the company Avan Norte - Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, a concortium formed by the LusoLAV consortium (Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Alves Ribeiro, Casais, Conduril and Gabriel Couto).
The specifications for the first section of the high-speed line included the construction of a road-rail bridge with two decks over the River Douro, the refurbishment of the Porto-Campanhã station and the construction of a new underground station in Vila Nova de Gaia, in the Santo Ovídio area.
However, in April, the LusoLav consortium (Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Alves Ribeiro, Casais, Conduril and Gabriel Couto) presented the Gaia City Council with an alternative solution that preserves the original option but includes changes to the route after the council awarded it the contract for the design, construction, financing and maintenance of the line. the construction of two bridges instead of one over the River Douro and the Gaia station in Vilar do Paraíso instead of Santo Ovídio.
In a statement sent today to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM), Mota-Engil, which holds a 45% stake in the consortium, announced that it had signed the contract for the 30-year concession for the first phase of the high-speed rail line project.
This contract includes the development of “71 kilometres of a new high-speed line between Campanhã Station in Porto and Oiã; the adaptation of the current Campanhã Station to high-speed requirements; a new station in Vila Nova de Gaia; crossings over the River Douro (one exclusively dedicated to the new high-speed line and another dedicated to road traffic), connections to the Northern Line, near Canelas, and a new electric traction substation in the Estarreja area,” according to the statement.
In other words, the text is almost identical to the statement issued by the EIB and IP; it provides additional information on two crossings over the Douro River and will specify the location of the new station in Vila Nova de Gaia at a later stage.
The high-speed line is expected to connect Porto and Lisbon in one hour and 15 minutes in 2032, with possible stops in Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra and Leiria, and the Porto-Vigo route (via Porto airport, Braga, Ponte de Lima and Valença) in 50 minutes in 2032.
The first phase (Porto-Soure) of the high-speed line in Portugal should be ready in 2030 and the second (Soure-Carregado) in 2032, with the Northern Line ensuring connection to Lisbon.
According to the previous government, which launched the first high-speed PPP, the investment costs for the Lisbon-Valença axis are around €7-8 billion.
According to the Mota-Engil statement, the cost of developing the section between Porto and Oiã amounts to €1.661 billion (current value of availability payments).
In 2024, the EIB approved a €3 billion financing package, with the first tranche of €875 million announced today, aimed at the construction of the Porto-Campanhã - Oiã (Oliveira do Bairro, Aveiro) section.
In addition to the EIB loan, which the InvestEU programme partially guarantees, the project will also benefit from €900 million in additional financing from various national and international financial institutions, €480 million in grants under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) and €150 million in co-financing from IP.
MPE/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
