Portugal builds high-speed railway between Porto and Lisbon

The 290 km (180 mi) new-build line is planned to connect Lisbon (Santa Apolónia) and Porto (Campanhã) via Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro and Gaia-Santo Ovídio, with trains running up to 300 km/h, cutting travel time to about 75 minutes non-stop or 105 minutes with stops. The operator is Comboios de Portugal (CP). Cancelled in 2009 amid the economic downturn, the project was reactivated in 2020 as part of a broader Portuguese infrastructure programme (about EUR 43 billion through 2030); the line's estimated construction cost is EUR 4.5 billion. Construction is planned in three phases: Porto-Soure by 2028, Soure-Carregado by 2030, and the final Carregado-Lisbon segment "later than 2030" per the source — so full completion by end-2030 is not confirmed for every section. Update (17 Jul 2026): Two bids were received when tenders for the concession of the Oiã–Soure high-speed section, the second section of the new Porto–Lisbon link, were opened on 7 July 2026: one from the group Grupo Alta Velocidade (Sacyr Somague Concessões, DST 2Gether, Alberto Couto Alves/ACA) and one from Lusolav III (Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Casais, Alves Ribeiro, Conduril, Gabriel A. S. Couto, M. Couto Alves). The tender jury is now examining and scoring the bids; the report gives no award date or concession value. (LOK Report, 17 Jul 2026) Update (12.10.2026): Construction of the PPP1 concession between Porto (Campanhã) and Oiã began with an official ceremony attended by the infrastructure minister and an EU commissioner; the minister urged that deadlines be met (ECO, 12 Oct 2026).