The Lisbon–Porto high-speed rail line is a proposed

high-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

line in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, linking its capital

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

to its second-largest city

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

Iberian gauge Iberian gauge ( es, ancho ibérico, trocha ibérica, pt, bitola ibérica) is a track gauge of , most extensively used by the railways of Spain and Portugal. This is the second-widest gauge in regular use anywhere in the world. The Indian gauge, , ...

Background

The

Alfa Pendular Alfa Pendular is the name of the flagship Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Guimarães, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at speed ...

service currently operates a

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

to Lisbon-Santa Apolónia service via Porto-Campanhã using the

Linha do Norte Linha do Norte is the Portuguese main railway line that connects the two main Portuguese cities, Lisbon and Porto. Its length is . It goes through some other important cities like Vila Franca de Xira, Santarém, Entroncamento, Pombal, Coim ...

, occasionally continuing to Faro on the Linha do Algarve, operating at a maximum speed of .

High-speed rail in Portugal In February 2009, the government of Portugal announced plans to build a high-speed rail line from Lisbon to Madrid; this plan was cancelled in March 2012 amidst a bailout programme of financial assistance to the Portuguese Republic. The project ...

was planned in the 1990s and formally announced in 2005, which included the Lisbon–Madrid high-speed rail line, a Lisbon to Porto line and a line from Porto to

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The plan was cancelled in 2009 due to the economic downturn. In 2020 the plan was reactivated as part of an initiative by the Portuguese government to invest €43 billion into infrastructure projects by 2030. The line is projected to cost of €4.5 billion, with a proposed 75 minute journey time between the two cities.

Construction

The project will be split into three phases, with the first phase being the section from Porto to Soure, which is planned to be complete by 2028. The second phase will be the section between Soure and

Carregado Carregado () is a former civil parish, located in the municipality of Alenquer, in western Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Carregado e Cadafais. It has a population of 9,066 inhabitants and a total area of 15.52 km². ...

, which is projected to be finished by 2030. The third phase involves building a small section between

and

, and is planned to be complete only later than 2030. The rail network will be able to connect

with speeds as high as 300km/h, and in a total travel time of 75 minutes without stops, and 105 minutes with stops. The new high-speed line will have stops in

Leiria Leiria (; cel-x-proto, ɸlāryo) is a city and municipality in the Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat of its own distr ...

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

, Aveiro,

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; cel-x-proto, Cale), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a population of ...

, apart from the already mentioned in Lisbon-Santa Apolónia and Porto-Campanhã. In most of the cities, the current stations will be expanded to service the new high-speed line, except in

, where a new station will be built, called Gaia-Santo Ovídio. To cross the river

Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...

between

and

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenog ...

, a new bridge will be built over the river. There are also plans to connect

by high-speed rail, with a line departing from Porto-Campanhã, through

Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport or simply Porto Airport (formerly ''Pedras Rubras Airport'') is an international airport near Porto (Oporto), Portugal. It is located northwest of the Clérigos Tower in the centre of Porto, in the municipalitie ...

and

, and ending in

. These plans are less concrete and are expected to be finished only later than 2030.

References

Rail transport in Portugal {{Portugal-transport-stub

Background

Construction

See also

References