Transtejo Wants Tourists to Pay More Than 2 Euros for the Cacilhas Crossing, While Monthly Passes Stay Where They Are

The single ticket on the ferry between Cais do Sodré in Lisbon and Cacilhas in Almada costs 2 euros, and the company that runs it thinks that is too cheap for the people who mostly buy it. Transtejo Soflusa (TTSL) will ask for authorisation to raise the price of occasional tickets on that crossing by more than inflation, while keeping monthly passes at their current price.

"More than 90 percent of the occasional tickets I sell on the Cais do Sodré to Cacilhas crossing are tourist service, so it makes no sense for the ticket to stay at two euros for a tourist service," the chair of the TTSL board, Rui Rei, told the mobility and transport committee of the Lisbon Municipal Assembly on Wednesday morning. "The state budget does not have to finance tourism. Tourism has to pay the price and has to finance the public service."

Why the company wants the money

The argument is about dependence on the state. "We have to update our revenue, because we depend on the state budget for 68 percent and we have to get to 50 percent," Rei said. He did not give a figure for the new fare or a date.

He also wants TTSL back in the tourist business itself. The idea is not to compete with private operators, he said, but to offer a "good tourist service" in the near future and generate "interesting and important" revenue from it. A study of the tourist offer is being finished.

What else the chair told the assembly

• Reliability: TTSL restored its full public service timetable in November and has cut daily cancellations by more than 90 percent. Ten electric boats now run alongside 20 diesel vessels, after 7 million euros spent on maintenance since the current board took office in October last year.
• New routes: links to Moita, on the south bank, and to Parque das Nações in Lisbon are being studied. Rei said a protocol with Lisbon City Council to make the Parque das Nações link a reality is being finalised, and that it would "not be very different from what is there today".
• Fleet: a fleet renewal plan will go to the government by the end of the first quarter of next year, favouring smaller and more flexible vessels of up to 300 seats, "preferably electric".
• Passengers: TTSL carried 21 million passengers in 2025 and expects slight growth this year, which would reverse several years of decline.

Cash at Terreiro do Paço

Separately, TTSL clarified on Wednesday that it has not stopped taking cash at the Terreiro do Paço river terminal. Cash can still be used at the ticket machines; it is the staffed ticket counters that accept only bank cards, the change we reported on when the counter went card-only.

What it means for regular passengers

If the proposal goes ahead as described, commuters crossing the river on a monthly pass would see no change. The people most exposed are occasional travellers, visitors and residents who pay per trip rather than holding a pass. Regular users who still pay per trip may want to compare the two once a new fare is known. The ten electric ferries Rei credited with the improvement in reliability ran together for the first time this month.