The Lisbon metro tunnel, which will connect the future Estrela and Santos stations, has already been completed, the connection to Cais do Sodré is missing, and full completion is expected in the first quarter of 2025.
The predictions were made this afternoon during a visit to the works of the future Estrela station, located in a former military hospital, which was attended by Prime Minister António Costa, Presidential Minister Mariana Vieira da Silva and Minister of Environment and Climate Affairs, Duarte Cordeiro.
Underground and after a brief explanation of the work being carried out as part of the new ring line, government officials walked several hundred meters of the tunnel that will connect the future Estrela and Santo stations, the design of which has already been presented. completed.
The next stage will be the completion of the tunnel that will connect Santos station with Cais do Sodre, completing the connection loop that will start from Campo Grande (the beginning of the current yellow line).
Metropolitano de Lisboa plans to open the ring line in the first quarter of 2025 (the original forecast was for the end of 2024), with an estimated investment of 330 million euros.
Following the visit, in statements to journalists, the Minister of the Environment emphasized the importance of the work and announced some figures regarding the planned trips.
“In the first year of operation, we want to reach 12 million new trips. It is the centerpiece of a complex mobility system in the country’s main metropolis, home to about 2.9 million people,” the official said.
Mentioning other works also already included in the expansion and modernization plan of the Lisbon metro, such as the extension of the Red Line (four more stations) and the construction of the Violet Line (Odivelas – Lures), Duarte Cordeiro emphasized the impact that these investments will have on the environment .
“The environmental impact of all this work is very impressive. The three new metro lines will avoid a total of 41,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide and enable an additional 45 million journeys on public transport,” he said.
At the beginning of December, Lisbon Metro approved a contract for the design and construction of the red line extension between San Sebastian and Alcantara for the companies Mota-Engil – Engenharia e Construção and Spie Batignolles Internacional, worth almost 321.9 million euros (plus VAT). .
On another four kilometers of the line, starting from Lisbon Airport, four new stations are planned – Amoreiras/Campolide, Campo de Ourique, Infante Santo and Alcântara – and the last one will be connected to a future sustainable intermodal line (Lios Oeste), which will promote connections. to the municipality of Oeiras.
In the case of the Violeta line, which will connect the municipalities of Odivelas and Loures into a light metro system, a construction tender should be announced early this year, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change said on Tuesday. .
The Violeta line, due to be completed in the second half of 2026, will consist of 17 stations and be approximately 11.5 kilometers long.
Nine stations will be built in the municipality of Loures, serving the parishes of Loures, Santo António dos Cavaleiros and Frielas, with a length of 6.4 km.
In the neighboring municipality of Odivelas, eight stations will be built to serve the parishes of Povoa de Santo Adrian and Olival de Basto, Odivelas, Ramada and Canesas, with a total length of 5.1 km.
The planned investments amount to 527.3 million euros.
In his speech this afternoon, Duarte Cordeiro also stated that new investments in the field of transport and mobility in the Lisbon metropolitan region are planned until 2030, taking advantage of the new community structure, highlighting the extension of the Tagus metro south line to Caparica (Almada municipality) and the construction of the system passenger transport, which will connect the Red Line metro with the municipality of Oeiras.
210 million euros were invested in the extension of the yellow and green lines to create the ring line in 2018, and in 2018 they grew to 331.4 million euros, with co-financing from the Environmental Fund to 137.2 million euros, amounting to 103 million euros. from the Cohesion Fund through POSEUR – Operational Program for Sustainability and Resource Efficiency and 91.2 million euros from the state budget.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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