The Portuguese Transport Ministry has published the tender for the civil work of the railway link from Ovar to Vilanova de Gaia, in the north of the country. The line is considered the most unsafe rail freight link in the country and will be upgraded.

The upgraded railway will have a length of 15 kilometres, along which 18 level crossing wills be eliminated. The stations of Granja and Vila Nova de Gaia will be extended to enable the passage of 750-metre length trains. The budget of the project totals 49 million Euros, exceptionally high due to the degradation of this infrastructure.

Delays

The works will start in June 2019 and will be completed in 2020. The tender was published two years later than planned, due to the implementation of EU rules about transparency in national infrastructure projects, the government justified.

This rail infrastructure is essential to connect the Portuguese rail network with northern and western Spanish railways and to link up with the central European corridors. The Spanish and Portuguese governments are putting immense efforts in increasing the rail connections between both countries, not only to improve the rail services from Portugal to France but also to connect the agricultural and manufacturing areas in western Spain with the Portuguese ports.