Lisbon Metro’s Red Line expansion can move forward after schedule revision

The expansion of Lisbon Metro’s RED Line may now proceed under a new timetable after the Government approved a revision of the project’s execution schedule and financing last week.

The Council of Ministers’ resolution addresses the issue that had prevented the Court of Auditors from granting prior approval to the contract for supervising the works. Transport Secretary of State Cristina Pinto Dias said in parliamentary committees on the Budget and Infrastructure that the necessary conditions are now in place for the approval to be issued.

The project will extend the line from São Sebastião to Alcântara, via Amoreiras and Campo de Ourique. Its start will take place after the initially planned completion date, although no new deadline for finishing the project was announced.

Metro president Cristina Vaz Tomé had linked the recent delay in starting construction to the absence of prior approval for the supervision contract. The contract represents an expense of €7 million within a project valued at just over €400 million. According to the Government, the delay was initially described as two years and later revised to one year, and could only be addressed through the newly approved Council of Ministers’ resolution.

Pinto Dias also attributed delays to the two previous Socialist governments, during which the project fell behind schedule and lost access to €377 million in funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan. She also cited waiting periods for opinions from environmental authorities and Portugal’s National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority.

Alternative financing had to be secured to replace the lost Recovery and Resilience Plan funding. Access to cohesion funds and a loan from the European Investment Bank was only secured this summer, allowing the Government to approve the revised schedule.

The project was approved in 2021 and had been allocated a significant share of Recovery and Resilience Plan funding. Its environmental impact assessment was approved that year, and three Council of Ministers’ resolutions were subsequently adopted to adjust spending to the project’s changing timetable.

The most recent resolution, approved in March 2024, had set the end of 2027 as the completion date. That deadline was incompatible with the supervision contract rejected by the Court of Auditors without a further rescheduling of the project.

Sources: Observador.