75-Minute Lisbon-Porto Train Edges Closer as Station Choice Looms

Government brushes aside dispute over a future high-speed rail station in Gaia and promises a prompt decision

Lisbon–Porto line still on track, says Infrastructure Minister

Portugal’s Infrastructure Minister João Galamba sought on Friday to put an end to weeks of political sparring about where the first northern station of the new high-speed rail link should be built, insisting that the choice between Porto-Campanhã and a greenfield site in Vila Nova de Gaia is “a technical matter, not a turf war”.

Speaking after a closed-door meeting with railway planners and the mayors of Porto and Gaia, Mr Galamba underlined that the location must be fixed “within weeks, not months” so that preliminary works can begin in 2026 and the Lisbon–Porto journey time of 1 hour 15 minutes can be offered to passengers by the end of the decade.

Why Gaia entered the conversation

The first public version of the high-speed blueprint, released in September 2022, envisaged upgrading Porto-Campanhã into the network’s northern hub. Surveyors later suggested that moving the stop a few hundred metres south of the River Douro—into the parish of Santo Ovídio in Gaia—could shorten tunnelling, cut construction risk and allow a larger inter-modal complex.

Rui Moreira, mayor of Porto, immediately criticised the idea, arguing that bypassing Campanhã would drain investment from the city and undermine the capacity of the existing suburban network. Gaia’s mayor Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues countered that the high-speed line “should serve the entire metropolitan area, not just one municipality”.

Minister: “There is no clash of egos”

Mr Galamba attempted to calm tempers on Friday. “Whether the platforms stand on the Porto or the Gaia bank of the Douro, the station will serve the same four million people who live within a 50-kilometre radius,” he said, adding that the European Commission is more concerned with Portugal meeting Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) deadlines than with the exact GPS coordinates of the terminal.

According to the minister, an independent cost-benefit comparison—run by engineers from Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) together with foreign consultants—will be delivered to the government before the end of November. Only after that study is vetted by the Court of Auditors will the cabinet cast a formal vote.

€4.9 billion price tag, €1.2 billion in EU grants

The Lisbon–Porto high-speed corridor is budgeted at about €4.9 billion. Phase 1, the 136-kilometre stretch from Porto to Soure, will absorb €3 billion and must be contracted no later than the first quarter of 2026 to keep €1.2 billion in RRF grants on the table.

Officials say that choosing the station site swiftly is critical because it determines the alignment of a 4-kilometre tunnel under the Douro and the entry tracks into the metropolitan area. Any late rerouting could add up to €200 million in extra civil-works costs, according to IP engineers.

Local authorities still divided

• The Porto city council reiterated on Thursday that Campanhã is the “natural gateway” for the region, citing its links to the Metro, Atlantic corridor freight lines and the A20 ring road.• Gaia officials argue that a purpose-built complex in Santo Ovídio would offer six through-tracks instead of four terminus tracks, eliminating a time-consuming reversal for trains heading to Galicia.• Business groups, including the Chamber of Commerce of Porto, are urging compromise, warning that the North “cannot afford another decade-long stalemate like the one that derailed the original TGV plan in 2011”.

Next steps

The government intends to launch the public consultation on the Porto–Soure environmental impact assessment in early 2026. Construction of the southern legs—Soure to Carregado and Carregado to Lisbon Oriente—is pencilled in for 2028–2030.

“We will not lose a single euro to hesitation,” Mr Galamba concluded. “Portugal needs this railway to cut emissions, to shrink the country, and to compete with air travel—everything else is secondary.”