Lisbon Targets a 2027 River-Ferry Return to Parque das Nações, While Transtejo Pegs the Restart No Earlier Than 2028

Lisbon's eastern riverfront could get its boats back. The city councillor for projects and public-space works, Joana Baptista, said this week that ferries will once again call at Parque das Nações from 2027, restoring a river stop that last operated during the 1998 World Exposition (Expo'98).

“We will restore the station at Parque das Nações that existed during Expo'98,” Baptista said. “So in 2027 the boats going to Cais do Sodré and Terreiro do Paço will also come to Parque das Nações.” The service would be run by Transtejo Soflusa (TTSS), the state company that operates the cross-Tagus ferries between Lisbon and the south bank.

The operator is more cautious

The company itself has set expectations lower. Back in January, TTSS president Rui Ribeiro Rei confirmed Transtejo was studying a Parque das Nações connection but stressed it would happen “never before 2028”. The gap between the council's 2027 target and the operator's 2028-at-the-earliest line is the real story here: a political ambition running ahead of the engineering timetable.

The hold-up is physical. The stretch of the Tagus off Parque das Nações silts up badly, with heavy concentrations of sand and mud that affect navigability, so any new terminal would likely require significant dredging before ferries could berth reliably. Transtejo also wants demand studies to confirm the route would carry enough passengers to justify the investment.

Part of a wider plan for eastern Lisbon

A Parque das Nações ferry stop would slot into a broader push to knit the area's transport together. The terminal is meant to connect with the railway, the Metro and the ferries in one interchange, and it sits alongside the planned 16E electric tram — a surface line for the eastern city targeted for 2029 — under the umbrella of the Linha Intermodal Sustentável (LIOS — Sustainable Intermodal Line). A separate, possibly temporary, ferry terminal at Parque Tejo for the Rock in Rio festival has been floated for 2028.

For a city that has spent years trying to revive the Tagus as a transport corridor, the announcement is the latest of several. Transtejo is also expanding weekend and off-peak sailings on the south-bank routes, while the Infrastructure Ministry has been reviewing the Setúbal-Tróia ferry concession with an eye to folding it into the metropolitan travel pass.

What This Means for Expats

• A long lead time, so don't plan around it yet: the most concrete commitment is the council's, but the operator's “not before 2028” caveat — plus the dredging question — means a Parque das Nações ferry is years away, not months.
• It would matter most for Parque das Nações residents: the riverside district is popular with newer arrivals, and a direct boat to Cais do Sodré and Terreiro do Paço would add a car-free commuting option to the existing Metro and train links.
• Ferries already sit inside the travel pass: if and when the route opens, Transtejo sailings are covered by the metropolitan ticket. Our guide to the Passe Navegante and the wider transport-pass guide explain how the boats fit in.

For now, the riverfront promise is firmly in the “announced, not yet sailing” column — a reminder that in Lisbon mobility, the gap between the ribbon-cutting date and the first departure can be measured in years.