We have been talking about high speed between Lisbon and Madrid for years. Portugal is looking elsewhere: Galicia

Galicia and Portugal share cultural, economic ties and a intense very intense cars flow forced to circulate on one of the highways more dangerous from Spain. That last could change in a few years. Portugal has activated His administrative machinery to build the first high speed between Aveiro and Porto, a key piece of the Lisboa-Oporto railway corridor that looks beyond Portugal and aspires to link with Galicia.

With the echoes of the debate of whether Lisbon, high speed must be prioritized with Madrid or Galicia, the public body infrastructure of Portugal (IP) is very light: Aspires to link Lisbon with Vigo and A Coruña to leave a population bag of 11 million people only three hours from the Portuguese capital.

What happened? That Portugal has just given A key step For the implementation of the Lisbon-Porto high speed line, a railway corridor that will link the two main cities of the country and will continue north to the border with Galicia. A few days ago IP and Advance Norte- Gestão Da Ferrovia de High Speede signed A concession contract of the first high speed between Lisbon and Porto: 71 km between Porto and Oiãin the Aveiro district.

What exactly agreed? What they signed is a concession and financing contract, which in turn clears the design, construction and maintenance of the Porto section to Oiã for 30 years. “When it is finished, it will allow the connection between Lisbon and Porto in an hour and 15 minutes, with an expected use of almost ten million passengers a year,” Clarify Carlo Fernandes, from IP. In addition to the 71 kilometers of line, the project will incorporate a station in Vila Nova de Gaia, a bridge over the Duero and an electrical substation in Strare.

And what about investment? The signing of the agreement also served to present the financing agreement between Advo Norte and the European Investment Bank (BEI) for 875 million euros, part of the global loan of 3,000 million euros approved in 2024 by the BEI to support the new line. Vigo lighthouse It states that in the first phase the Next Generation funds will also contribute 447 million. “This is a true turning point,” Celebrate Nadia Calviñoformer Minister of Economy and current president of the BEI.

And why is it important? Because those 71 km are the first step of a much more ambitious race, the first phase of the new Lisbon-Support line. In total that initial corridor will be extended 143 km Between the Porto-Campanhã and Soubo station, in Coimbra. The high -speed corridor between the two major cities of Portugal, Lisbon and Porto, is divided into several phases that extend to Oiã, from that town to the district of Coimbra and the latter to the Lisbon area.

A few months ago, In MayInfrastructure of Portugal also guaranteed that its objective is that the works for the new line between Braga and Valença do Minho, already at the northern end of the country, touching the border with the south of Galicia, start in 2028 and that the infrastructure is completed shortly after, in 2032.

But … how does Spain affect? How important is the future high -speed future line between Lisbon and Porto or plans to extend the infrastructure even further north of the country? Simple. Procedures such as that of a few days ago, which seems to have cleared the future of the Porto-Oiã section, gradually shaping the new railway axis that will link the Portuguese capital with the north of the country and, ultimately, will link with the Galician rail service.

It is not theory. Although the project takes time on the table and over the last years has taken both steps forward and backwards, the high speed connection with Galicia is linked to the development of the Lisbon-Oporto corridor. It He has made clear Fernandes himself, vice president of IP: “We will get with the Lisbon-Porto-Vigo axis to place A Coruña and about 11 million inhabitants at a distance of three hours from Lisbon.” The objective is not only to connect the lusas (large and intermediate) cities but to extend through the Atlantic strip.

Is it the only project? No. The Lisbon-Porto High Speed Line and its connection with Galicia has been on the table, but in the neighboring country they handle another key project: the corridor Between Lisbon and Madrid. What is a priority? Which one is most interested in Spain? And to Portugal? In the past both countries have signs that their answers to those questions do not always coincide.

During the summit Hispanic-2004 The Spanish government promised to “boost high speed between Madrid and Lisbon by 2030”. On the section of Porto to Vigo, assured “Share with the Portuguese Executive the commitment of 2032”. For the Portuguese president, Luis Montenegro, things seem to be somewhat different. After the bilateral assembly, he wanted to “make clear” that his “priority” is the Galician connection and that Madrid is actually a “second priority.”

Is it the first time that happens? At all. It is not the first time that dissonance is revealed. In 2020, with António Costa in the Portuguese Government, it was even clearer when after the XXXI Hispanic Summit the Minister of Cohesion Territory, Ana Abrunhosa, left black on white Your posture.

“Our priority is not the connection between Madrid and Lisbon because from Madrid to Lisbon we go by plane. We already have connection. Our priority is the Lisbon Atlantic Axis, Porto and Vigo”, He stressed Abrunhosablunt. Galicia and Portugal share economic ties and an intense flow of vehicles, which converts the A-55 highway, into Vigo, into The great door for filmed traffic between both countries. The Lisbon-Madrid connection that would limit the three-hour trip is expected a priori by 2034.

Images | John Worth (Flickr), Nuno Morão (Flickr) and Infrastruturas of Portugal

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