Late-Night Porto–Aveiro Trains Suspended as Metro Tunnel Dig Begins

Anyone planning a late-night dash between Porto and Aveiro is about to discover just how much a single tunnelling operation can reshape a timetable. From this coming weekend, crews working beneath Gaia-Devesas station will begin carving out an underpass that forces long stretches of the high-traffic line to shut after dark. Expect substitute buses, slower trips and an occasional scramble for the last train out of São Bento.

What’s happening under your train ride

Porto’s metro authority has green-lit heavy machinery to drill a new underpass that will let the future Linha Rubi glide beneath CP’s north-south tracks. Because the bore sits on an active rail junction, works can only move forward once the overhead wires power down. Infraestruturas de Portugal signed off on a plan that squeezes almost everything into overnight windows so weekday commuters keep their seats during office hours.

The tunnel is one small piece of a broader, 6.4 km link connecting Casa da Música to Santo Ovídio. Yet it is the item with the biggest immediate fallout for anyone who relies on Regional or Alfa Pendular trains after sunset.

When you’ll feel the pinch

Closures roll out in waves. First up are the fins-de-semana beginning 26 July: trains stop at 23:50 and do not resume until 07:50. A second burst arrives in mid-August, when the nightly silence extends to a 22:00–10:00 slot on weekends. Weeknights are not spared; between 11 August and 25 September rails will be idle from 23:00 to 05:00, a pattern that returns for the Christmas-market season in late November.

For residents who time evening flights via Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, the takeaway is simple: the later the departure, the slimmer the odds of catching a real train home.

Getting from A to B without the rails

To soften the blow, Metro do Porto is underwriting a chain of coaches shadowing the line. Buses pull up next to Campanhã, General Torres, Coimbrões, Valadares, Espinho, Ovar and Aveiro, honouring every valid CP ticket at no extra cost. Still, the ride across Arrábida Bridge traffic can add 30 minutes or more. Pets, bicycles and wheelchairs are barred—worth remembering if you had planned a surf morning in Granja or an e-bike trek along the Ria de Aveiro.

Digital information is a moving target. The Portuguese-language page on cp.pt tends to update hours before the English version. Bookmark it and cross-check on the day you travel.

The long game: bridges, bikes and a river crossing

Disruption now buys time later. Linha Rubi will slide over the Douro on the future D. Antónia Ferreira Bridge—reserved exclusively for light rail, cyclists and pedestrians. Once open, Gaia residents gain two fresh river crossings and eight new metro stops, shrinking the ride from the port district’s wine cellars to Porto’s music quarter to roughly 15 minutes.

Civil engineers aim to finish the line by 2026, but Metro do Porto concedes the bridge likely spills into 2027. Riverbed pylons should start sprouting this summer, meaning boat cruises may soon weave around floating cranes.

Money matters and who foots the bill

Budget lines have drifted upward just as fast as the tunnel drills downward. The project, born as a €435 M venture, now stands near €488 M after inflation and signalling upgrades. The EU’s PRR recovery fund shoulders the bulk, yet anything beyond the approved envelope lands on the Portuguese state budget. Critics in Lisbon already question whether contingency reserves will survive another inflationary jolt.

Tips for a smoother journey

Seasoned commuters swear by a simple rule: grab the 22:20 Regional if you must leave Porto late; anything later risks a coach swap. Keep a screenshot of the Metro do Porto helpline in your phone—station loudspeakers lag behind in English. And remember, an Andante 24-hour pass rides the replacement buses, but tourist-focused Porto Cards do not.

Adjusting plans may feel like a chore today, yet the payoff should be a quieter, faster and greener cross-river commute once Linha Rubi comes online. Until then, set a calendar alert for those nightly cut-offs and factor in a cushion of extra minutes whenever the sun goes down.