High speed. Tender for PPP for the Aveiro-Coimbra section scheduled for July 15th

The tender for the second public-private partnership (PPP) for the high-speed line between Porto and Lisbon should start on July 15th. This is the intention expressed by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) for the section between Oiã, in Aveiro, and Soure, south of Coimbra, which is part of the first phase of the new railway line.

The intention, advanced by “Dinheiro Vivo”, was announced in the Official Journal of the European Union on March 29th – in the same way that the public-private partnership competition for the section between Campanhã stationin Port, and Oiãwhose deadline for submitting proposals ends on June 13th.

At issue is, as in the first PPPThe construction of 71 kilometers of a double linein Iberian gaugewith one maximum speed of 300 km/h. As is already customary in railway works in Portugal, the construction of the line is carried out with multipurpose sleepersfor facilitate a hypothetical transition to the European gauge be agreed with Spain.

This second PPP also includes the construction of 34 km of connections between the high-speed line and the Northern Line, the adaptation of the Coimbra B station and the quadrupling of the Northern Line in the south of Coimbra. According to the project, which received environmental approval in November 2023, 17 bridges, 11 viaducts, four tunnels, 26 road underpasses and 33 overpasses are still needed.

As in the first PPP, the tender involves the infrastructure concession for 30 yearss, in which five are dedicated to conception, design, construction and financing. During the remaining 25 years, the concessionaire is obliged to maintain and make the line available to IP.

In January, the route of the line in Coimbra was adjusted at the request of the municipality, allowing “to spare the entirety” of Quinta das Cunhas – a town that was going to be crossed by the line.

According to the latest information from IP, the section between Oiã and Soure will cost 1,751 million eurosand can count on 395 million euros of European funds from the Connecting Europe Mechanism, for which Portugal applied at the end of January.

Second phase reaches public consultation in the second half of 2024

The change of Government is not affecting the pace of the high-speed rail project in Portugal. As the deadline for the first competition approaches, the next steps are being prepared – studies for the second phase of the linebetween Soure and Carregado, will enter the public consultation phase in the second half of the year.

High speed is also advancing north of Porto. In April, IP contracted environmental studies for the line that will connect Porto to the border with Spain in Valença – allowing the arrival in Vigo and the Portuguese high-speed connection with the Spanish one.

IP has also advanced with contracts for changes to seasons where it is already known that high-speed trains will be able to stop. An example of this is Estação do Oriente, in Lisbon, which again has in its design the expansion from eight to 11 linesamong other adaptations.

A opening of the first phase of the high-speed line between Porto and Lisbon, with an estimated cost of 3.7 billion euros, is scheduled for 2030. The second phase should open for operation in 2032 – reducing the trip between Porto and Lisbon to 1h20.

With both phases in operation, IP says it will be possible to carry out 60 services per day on the high-speed line. Among these, 34 may be hybrid services, which use the high-speed line and the conventional network to reach other cities.