Portugal’s government has formally authorised Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to relaunch the tender for the Oiã–Soure section of the Porto–Lisbon high-speed rail line, resetting the procurement after the collapse of the first attempt and clearing a key bottleneck in the country’s flagship but long-lagging rail project.
The decision, approved by the Council of Ministers and published on 19 January, gives the Portuguese infrastructure manager the mandate to proceed with a second public–private partnership (PPP2) tender covering the design, construction, financing and long-term maintenance of the 60-kilometre section between Oiã, south of Aveiro, and Soure, in central Portugal.
Key to getting the entire high-speed route up and running, the Oiã–Soure segment is one of the remaining missing links between Porto and Lisbon, following the award last year of the Porto–Oiã section under a separate PPP. Together with the future Soure–Carregado stretch, it is central to Portugal’s ambition to cut end-to-end journey times between the country’s two largest cities to around one hour and 20 minutes.
This week’s retendering follows the annulment of the original proposal for the section in 2024, after there was only one bidder, and that bid was ultimately disqualified. That forced the government to formally revoke its earlier authorisation and restart the process. Thus ministers are now framing the relaunch as a necessary step to keep the overall Porto–Lisbon programme on track, rather than a rethink of scope or ambition.
Key facts and figures: Oiã–Soure (PPP2)
- Concession model: Public–private partnership (design, build, finance, maintain)
- Maximum authorised cost (NPV): €1.6 billion (December 2023 prices)
- Additional authorised spending: €600 million for projects, expropriations, site preparation and supervision
- Estimated total contract value: €4.77 billion at current prices, spread over 30 years (2026–2056)
- Payments begin: July 2026
- EU funding secured:
- €365.8 million from Connecting Europe Facility (CEF 2)
- €234 million planned from other EU funding sources
- Infrastructure scope:
- Around 60 km of high-speed line
- One tunnel
- 25 bridges and viaducts
- 18 connections to the conventional network
- Nine interventions on the Northern Line
- Signalling and systems package: €360 million, including €268.5 million for design and installation and €91.5 million for long-term maintenance.
Keeping Porto–Lisbon on track
Indeed, the reset comes after a stop–start period for Portugal’s high-speed programme, marked by such failed tenders, route optimisations and mounting delivery complexity. While political backing for the Porto–Lisbon line has strengthened in recent years, execution has proved harder, with procurement setbacks, technical interfaces between phases and environmental constraints slowing momentum. With construction on the northern section now under way, the Oiã–Soure relaunch is seen in Lisbon as a test of whether the project can move from repeated reauthorisation to sustained delivery — and maintain credibility with contractors, investors and EU institutions.
Alongside the core civil works concession on the section, the government has also approved a separate spending envelope for signalling, telecommunications and safety systems linked to the high-speed line. That package covers the installation of S&T systems on the Porto–Oiã high-speed section, partial renewal of systems on the conventional Northern Line, complementary safety systems, and full lifecycle maintenance of the equipment.
Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz has insisted that the relaunch will not increase the headline cost of the Oiã–Soure section. According to the government, the route has been optimised, including a reduction of around 11 kilometres compared with earlier plans, alongside technical adjustments intended to improve coordination between different phases of the high-speed corridor.