Protocol for study of Porto-Zamora railway via Bragança signed this month

The revelation was made to journalists by Pedro Lima, in the city of Bragança, after a meeting with the Northern Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-Norte) on priorities for regional development.

“The idea that emerged at CIM-TTM will be announced on July 23, with the presence of the Minister of Infrastructure, Miguel Pinto Luz, here in Bragança, about the high-speed railway that will cross the entire North region. (…) It is a very important step and also a very large investment, budgeted at around 1.5 million euros”, considered Pedro Lima.

For the mayor of Vila Flor, this will be an essential step towards a reality that will bring territorial cohesion and unlock the North of Portugal.

For Pedro Lima, despite the delays in the process leading up to this protocol, everything followed a “natural path”.

“This is what is happening this time. In other words, it followed its natural path. It always takes longer than we would like, but we have to see that for a country the size of Portugal, an investment of 5.5 billion euros is very significant (…)”, he added.

The protocol will be signed with Infraestruturas de Portugal, which will carry out the study, CIM-TTM, CCDR-Norte and Spanish representatives.

“It is the first step on a long journey. I would like to point out that in Portugal there is not yet a single kilometre of high-speed rail. Therefore, it is very good that we are already on this path. I would say that it will be the real unlocking of Portugal for high-speed rail in Europe. It will be quicker to go through the North of the country than through the alternative in the Centre”, concluded Pedro Lima.

There are no known dates yet as to when this study may be completed. The connection will be analyzed according to the route already suggested by the Vale D'Ouro Association, which has been working with the CIM.

The forecast is that the trip from Porto to the Spanish capital (Madrid) could take two hours and 15 minutes, passing through Bragança and entering the neighboring country through the Planalto Mirandês area.

However, Pedro Lima stressed that “there are several options on the table” and that the territory is being consulted, which is seen as a positive point.

At the end of the Portuguese-Spanish summit, which took place in October in Faro, Luís Montenegro reported that the Porto-Zamora rail link is being studied “to be further developed in the coming years”, thus entering the list of investments to be coordinated with Spain.

On April 16, the Council of Ministers approved the National Railway Plan and instructed Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to assess priority railway investments, including the study of cross-border connections between Bragança-Zamora, Aveiro-Salamanca and Faro-Huelva.