Lisbon to Porto HSR

Objective

The aim is to increase the quality of rail services in the cohesion regions of centre and north of Portugal. By promoting travel by rail, the project will enhance sustainable transport in line with EU objectives and contribute to the EIB's cohesion (100%), climate action and environmental sustainability targets (100%). The project is located on the core TEN-T (Atlantic Corridor) and therefore provides a missing link that will yield benefits across the wider TEN-T network. The project is therefore eligible under Article 309 point (a) "projects for developing less-developed regions" and point (c) "projects of common interest" of the EU Treaty - European Investment Bank

Description

The Lisbon to Porto High-Speed Rail Project is a monumental infrastructure overhaul designed to slash travel times between Portugal's two largest cities to just one hour and fifteen minutes Porto-Lisbon High-Speed Railway Line, Portugal. By bypassing the congested legacy North Line, this double-track, European-gauge network will support train speeds of up to 300 km/h. The new route will connect Lisbon's Oriente station to Porto's Campanhã station, adding key intermediate stops at Leiria, Coimbra, Aveiro, and Vila Nova de Gaia. Implemented in phases to align with regional funding and operational capacity, initial segments aim to ease domestic travel before the entire corridor achieves full connectivity. The project is expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions by shifting millions of tons of passenger and freight traffic away from roads and domestic air travel. Furthermore, the corridor is engineered to seamlessly integrate with the broader national rail network and eventually facilitate international high-speed connections toward Spain.