General Daily Briefing — Sunday, 13 April 2026
In today's briefing: • Easter Road Deaths Quadruple to 20 as Portugal Faces Worst Holiday Toll in Years • Lisbon Metro Gets EUR 1.5 Billion Expansion — New Violet Line, Red Line Extension, and Green Line Closure Approved • High-Speed Rail Tender Opens for Porto-Coimbra Section — Bids Due May 25 f...
Easter Road Deaths Quadruple to 20 as Portugal Faces Worst Holiday Toll in Years
Portugal's Easter road safety operation ended with 20 deaths, 53 serious injuries, and more than 2,600 accidents — a fourfold increase from the five fatalities recorded during Easter 2025. The GNR detected over 2,390 speeding violations and 692 drink-driving detentions were recorded across both police forces. Among the dead was a German family of four killed on the IC1 in Santiago do Cacém. Interior Minister Luís Neves has pledged a package of strategic road safety measures to be presented "very soon," calling each road death "a personal tragedy and a family destroyed."
Lisbon Metro Gets EUR 1.5 Billion Expansion — New Violet Line, Red Line Extension, and Green Line Closure Approved
The Council of Ministers has approved a decree expanding Metropolitano de Lisboa's legal framework, clearing the way for over EUR 1.5 billion in metro infrastructure investment. The centrepiece is the new Violet Line — an 11.5 km surface light rail connecting Odivelas to Loures with 17 stations and a EUR 677.5 million price tag. The Red Line will extend four kilometres to Alcântara with four new stations (EUR 405 million), while the Green Line will finally close into a circular loop via new stations at Estrela and Santos. Combined, these projects represent the most significant transformation of Lisbon's metro since it opened in 1959.
High-Speed Rail Tender Opens for Porto-Coimbra Section — Bids Due May 25 for 30-Year Concession
Infraestruturas de Portugal has opened the EUR 1.6 billion tender for the 61-kilometre Oia-Soure section of the Porto-Lisbon high-speed rail line, with bids due 25 May 2026. The 30-year PPP contract covers design, construction, and maintenance, with approximately EUR 1.475 billion in EU and EIB backing. When fully operational across all three phases, the line will cut the Porto-Lisbon journey to 75 minutes with up to 60 daily services. Coimbra's B station will be adapted for high-speed services, with the city's mayor calling the project "a new city within the city."
That is all for today. Have a good Sunday.