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Public transport, infrastructure, and mobility in Portugal.

Scrapping Interior and Algarve Motorway Tolls Handed Foreign Vehicles a €12 Million Free Ride in 2025, Concessionaires Estimate

Scrapping Interior and Algarve Motorway Tolls Handed Foreign Vehicles a €12 Million Free Ride in 2025, Concessionaires Estimate

Vehicles registered abroad avoided about €12 million in charges last year after Portugal removed tolls on interior and Algarve motorways — a cost the concessionaires' body says has shifted onto domestic taxpayers.

The Portugal Brief 13 Jul 2026

A row of cars parked along a Lisbon street in front of white apartment and office buildings, illustrating car dependence in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area

Two in Three Greater Lisbon Residents Still Default to the Car, an ACP Survey Reports, Even as the €30 Navegante Pass Sits Underused

An Automóvel Club de Portugal survey finds 67% of Greater Lisbon residents prefer the car and 59% use one daily, even though the flat €30 Navegante pass has held for seven years — evidence that frequency and convenience, not price, keep the region on the road.

The Portugal Brief 12 Jul 2026

Two yellow-and-black Metro do Porto light-rail trams parked nose to nose at an underground station platform in Porto

Porto Residents Ride Buses and the Metro for Free From Today Under a €20 Million City Scheme

From Thursday, residents of Porto who hold the municipal Porto Card can ride the metro and buses across the metropolitan Andante network for free. Mayor Pedro Duarte launched the roughly 59,400-user scheme at Trindade station; it is valued at up to €20.5 million a year.

The Portugal Brief 10 Jul 2026

Orange and white Transtejo cacilheiro ferry crossing the Tagus river with the 25 de Abril bridge behind

A New Cross-River Ferry Links Almada to Oeiras From Today, on a Six-Month Trial

From Thursday, Transtejo · Soflusa begins a new river service between Trafaria and Porto Brandão in Almada and the Algés waterfront in Oeiras, extending to Belém. Running seven days a week on a six-month trial, it adds a rare east–west link to a ferry network built around north–south crossings.

The Portugal Brief 09 Jul 2026

Interior of a Lisbon Metro train carriage with red seats and route maps on the walls

Polish Trainmaker PESA Drops Out of Lisbon's Violet Line, Leaving Mota-Engil Hunting a New Supplier

Polish manufacturer PESA has withdrawn from supplying trains for Lisbon's Violet Line light metro — the second supplier to exit after China's CRRC fell foul of EU foreign-subsidy rules. The Mota-Engil consortium, whose €598.9m bid covers 17 stations from Odivelas to Loures, must now find a replaceme

The Portugal Brief 09 Jul 2026

A yellow Comboios de Portugal (CP) suburban train on the Linha de Cascais running alongside a road in Belem, Lisbon

Portugal Lines Up Private Operators to Run Four CP Commuter Lines on Six-Year Contracts, With Cascais First

The Government plans to hand four of CP's busiest commuter lines — starting with Cascais — to private operators on six-year contracts, with tenders targeted for 2028. CP would keep its brand and the rest of the network, but workers call it a step toward privatisation.

The Portugal Brief 09 Jul 2026

A CP regional train on the Algarve Line approaching a station under a stone bridge

The Algarve Line Switches to Electric Trains on 19 July, Adding Seats and Direct Lagos–Vila Real Services

Diesel railcars retire on 19 July as the Algarve Line goes fully electric, bringing about 40% more seats, 18% more services and the first direct Lagos–Vila Real trains.

The Portugal Brief 08 Jul 2026

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