The government has authorised Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to relaunch the tender for the concession of the Oiã-Soure section of the Porto-Lisbon high-speed line, assuming costs of up to €1.6 billion (US$1.87 billion) and a further €600 million (US$702 million) for projects, expropriations and supervision.

The launch of a public tender for a public-private partnership (PPP) covering the design, construction, financing, and maintenance of this section. The total projected cost, estimated at €4.765 billion (US$5.57 billion), will be distributed over 30 years from 2026 to 2056, with payments expected to commence in July 2026. At present, approximately €365.8 million (US$428 million) has already been secured under the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport 2 (CEF 2) programme for allocation to the PPP. A further €234 million (US$273 million) is expected to be obtained from additional EU funding sources, through other applications submitted by IP. The Government has also authorised IP to commit up to €360 million (US$ 421 million) in additional expenditure for the first contract covering the design, construction, and maintenance of the signalling, telecommunications, and safety systems for the Porto–Lisbon high-speed rail line. This funding is intended for the installation of signalling and telecommunications systems on the Porto–Oiã section, the partial renewal of these systems on the Northern Line, the deployment of complementary safety systems on the Porto–Oiã section, and the full maintenance of the installed systems over their respective life cycles. The expenditure on these technological systems will be split between the design and construction phase, estimated at €268.5 million (US$314 million) through 2031, and the maintenance phase, budgeted at €91.5 million (US$107 million), with payments extending until 2051. This investment will be financed through a mix of European funding totalling €65.9 million (US$77 million), state capital allocations, and Infraestruturas de Portugal’s own revenues.

The Government has approved the second phase of the tender for the Porto–Lisbon high-speed rail line, covering the Oiã–Soure section, while maintaining the overall value of the public-private partnership and authorising the tender for railway signalling. The alignment has been optimised, resulting in a reduction of approximately 11 km compared with the originally planned route to Soure, alongside technical adjustments requiring coordination and integration across the different phases of the high-speed rail project. The concession contract provides for five years of development, and the total investment in this section of the high-speed line will be €2.4 billion (US$2.8 billion), comprising 60 km of track, a tunnel, 25 bridges and viaducts, 18 connections to the conventional network, and nine interventions on the Northern line.