Government Refinances the Lisbon Metro's 405.4 Million Euro Red Line Extension to Alcântara, the Step Its Stalled Works Were Waiting For
The cabinet has rescheduled the Red Line extension's 405.4 million euros, now to be paid by Metro loans from the EIB and Sustentável 2030 after it left the PRR. Why the Court of Auditors has held up the works, and what comes next.
The Government has found new money for the Lisbon Metro's Red Line extension to Alcântara, months after the project was taken out of the EU recovery plan and with its works still not under way. The Council of Ministers (cabinet) on Thursday approved a decree-law that reschedules the 405.4 million euros the extension is expected to cost. It will be funded by Metropolitano de Lisboa's loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and from Sustentável 2030, the EU-funded programme for climate action and sustainability, according to the Council of Ministers communiqué.
The Government says the arrangement guarantees the work can continue "without any impact on the State Budget". The decree has not yet been published in the Diário da República (the official gazette), so its timetable for the spending is not yet public.
What is being built
The extension runs about 4.1 kilometres from São Sebastião with four new stations, according to the Metro's project page:
- Campolide/Amoreiras, at the southern end of Avenida Conselheiro Fernando de Sousa;
- Campo de Ourique, under the Jardim da Parada, where two lifts, placed where the public toilets now stand, will be the only structures above ground;
- Infante Santo, halfway along the avenue, serving the Tapada das Necessidades, Estrela and Lapa;
- Alcântara, an interchange on three levels, with a platform for the planned LIOS Ocidental light transit line to Oeiras and a pedestrian link between the Alvito hillside and Alcântara, cut off from each other since the 25 de Abril bridge was built in 1966.
The Metro expects 11 million extra passengers a year from the extension. Its page still gives 2030 for the opening.
How the money changed
The Metro's page still shows the old split: 285 million euros from the PRR (the Recovery and Resilience Plan) and 120.4 million from the State Budget. The 285 million share was dropped from the plan because the works were running late. In May the infrastructure minister, Miguel Pinto Luz, told parliament the State Budget would pay "as a last resort", with Portugal 2030 funds and the EIB under study, as we reported at the time. On 27 October the EIB announced 400 million euros for the Metro to modernise and expand the network, which its president, Nadia Calviño, said covers the Red Line extension, according to Lusa.
The main works contract was awarded in December 2023 to a Mota-Engil and SPIE Batignolles consortium for 321.9 million euros plus VAT, according to the Metro's award notice.
Why the works never started
The Tribunal de Contas (Court of Auditors) cleared the works contract in 2024. It has not cleared the separate contract to supervise the works, and without supervision the works cannot begin. The Metro's chair, Cristina Vaz Tomé, told parliament's infrastructure committee on 20 October that "we lost two years" waiting for that clearance, according to Observador. She put the supervision contract at about six to eight million euros.
The obstacle was the calendar. The cabinet resolution of March 2024 authorised the Metro's spending only from 2023 to 2027, while the supervision contract runs for 38 months after clearance, into 2028. The court then gave its own account to Observador. It received the supervision contract on 29 July 2025 and sent it back on 14 August asking for proof that the spending was properly approved. After what it called repeated reminders, the Metro replied only on 30 September 2026, saying it had asked the Government for a new resolution.
Thursday's decision is the rescheduling the Metro said it was waiting for. Once the decree is published, the Metro will need to return to the court with the supervision contract. No date has been given for the start of works, and Observador reported that the 2030 opening would be hard to meet.
What it means for passengers
Nothing changes on the network for now: the existing Red Line still ends at São Sebastião. Residents of Campo de Ourique, Amoreiras, Estrela and Alcântara should expect works sites around the four station locations once the court clears the supervision contract and the Metro sets a start date. Separately, the Metro's Violet Line to Loures and Odivelas is still waiting for its rolling stock supplier to be settled.
