High-Speed Rail Tender Opens for Porto-Coimbra Section — Bids Due May 25 for 30-Year Concession

Infraestruturas de Portugal has opened the tender for the 61-kilometre Oia-Soure section of the Porto-Lisbon high-speed rail line, with a maximum concession value of EUR 1.6 billion. Bids are due 25 May 2026. The project, when combined with the already-awarded Porto-Oia section, will bring high-speed rail to central Portugal and cut the Porto-Lisbon journey to around 75 minutes.

The Tender

The second public-private partnership (PPP2) was formally launched on 22 January 2026 at a ceremony at Culturgest in Lisbon, authorised by a Council of Ministers resolution published on 19 January. The key terms:

• Maximum concession value: EUR 1,603,362,559 (net present value, referenced to December 2023)
• Total payments over contract life: EUR 4.77 billion at current prices, spread over 30 years
• Contract term: 30 years — 5.5 years for development, 24.5 years for infrastructure availability
• Additional public funds: EUR 600 million for expropriations, site preparation, supervision, and EU-eligible works
• Total investment: approximately EUR 2.4 billion

What Gets Built

The scope covers approximately 61 kilometres of new high-speed line between Oia (south of Porto) and Soure (north of Coimbra), plus around 22 kilometres of connections to the existing Northern Line near Oia, Ademia, and Taveiro. Some 25 kilometres of the route will consist of bridges and viaducts, with at least one tunnel.

The route has been optimised and is 11 kilometres shorter than the version in the first (annulled) tender from July 2024. That tender failed after the sole bidder — the AVAN Norte consortium led by Mota-Engil — was disqualified for proposing changes to the Coimbra station location.

Coimbra's existing B station will be adapted for high-speed services, with plans for a "Bairro da Estação" — a new urban quarter with pedestrian access to the city centre. A new traction power substation will also be built in the Coimbra area.

EU Funding and Financing

The project has significant European backing:

• EUR 365.8 million from the Connecting Europe Facility for Transport (CEF2)
• EUR 234 million expected via additional EU funding candidacies
• EUR 875 million in financing from the European Investment Bank

Total EU and EIB support amounts to roughly EUR 1.475 billion — covering more than half the project cost.

The Bigger Picture: Porto to Lisbon in 75 Minutes

The high-speed line is being delivered in three phases:

• Phase 1 (PPP1): Porto to Oia — concession contract signed July 2025 with the LusoLav/AVAN Norte consortium. Currently experiencing delays after the Portuguese Environment Agency rejected the consortium's proposed changes to the Vila Nova de Gaia station and Douro river crossing.
• Phase 2 (PPP2): Oia to Soure — this tender, with bids due May 2026. Target operational by 2032.
• Phase 3 (PPP3): Soure to Carregado — environmental impact assessment completed, tender expected in the first half of 2026.

When fully operational, the line will support up to 60 services per day in each direction with a Porto-Lisbon journey time of one hour and 15 minutes. The project is expected to eliminate approximately five million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions by 2050 through modal shift away from roads and aviation.

The government has also approved CP (Comboios de Portugal) purchasing up to 20 high-speed trainsets — 12 firm plus eight options — for EUR 584 million.

What It Means for Residents

Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz has called high-speed rail and the new Lisbon airport "the largest works the country will undertake this century." For residents and expats who split time between Porto and Lisbon, a 75-minute rail journey would be transformative — roughly the same time it currently takes to drive from central Lisbon to Cascais during rush hour. Coimbra, long bypassed by intercity investment, stands to gain the most, with its mayor calling the project "a new city within the city."

The project's success, however, depends on keeping to timeline — and Phase 1 delays are already a warning sign.