Portuguese Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, and Spanish Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, ratified their commitment to promote the development of Madrid – Lisbon high-speed rail line by 2030.
The decision was made during the XXXV Portuguese – Spanish summit, held in Faro on 23 October, where the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and Portugal’s Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro also attended.
The two transport ministers also discussed the future of the Atlantic Corridor and cross-border connections to promote European cohesion and the development of sustainable and efficient international transport. Óscar Puente and Miguel Pinto Luz agreed to send a letter to their French counterpart to promote cross-border connections of the corridors, as a continuation of the letter from President Pedro Sánchez and the Portuguese Prime Minister.
In this context, both ministers have shown their support for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and have agreed to give a definitive boost to the construction of the line by signing, as soon as possible, the Commission’s Implementing Decision on the Madrid – Lisbon high-speed rail connection in the Atlantic Core Network Corridor. Thus, a timetable for the actions on the axis will be established for its commissioning within the time frame defined in the new Trans-European Network regulation.
And as both countries have recognised, the future rail connection will allow for a fast, comfortable and sustainable transport service between the capitals of both countries.
“Both countries have made great progress in the implementation of the railway infrastructure of the Atlantic Corridor on the Peninsula”, Óscar Puente said, during his speech at the plenary session of the Summit, after the meeting with his Portuguese counterpart.
During the summit, Spain and Portugal have highlighted the great progress made in the construction of cross-border road and rail connections and have committed to continue promoting them, emphasising those included in the Atlantic Corridor. The identified rail projects on the Atlantic Corridor include the connections between Porto and Vigo, Aveiro and Salamanca, as well as, at the agreed time, the mobility flow studies and cost-benefit analysis for the Faro – Huelva rail connection, among others. In relation to the Lisbon-Oporto – Vigo-A Coruña rail connection, both ministers welcomed the fact that, in compliance with the adopted agreements, the European European Economic Interest Grouping – High Speed Spain-Portugal (AEIE-AVEP) put out to tender last June the contract for the updating of mobility flows, the functional study and the cost-benefit analysis of the Vigo – Oporto corridor. For his part, the Spanish minister indicated that, in addition to the complete section adapted to high speed between A Coruña and Vigo being in service, the informative study of the southern exit of Vigo is already being drafted.
The Spanish minister also recalled the importance of cross-border connections throughout Europe and, especially, on the border between Spain and France to create a single European railway area and ensure that the significant investments made in the Peninsula.
“Our president and prime minister have signed a new communication addressed to the French prime minister urging him to accelerate his actions on the new cross-border railway infrastructure of the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors. This is essential to put our significant investments to good use, to be able to absorb the increased traffic that will result from the actions that Portugal and Spain have carried out and are going to carry out, and to contribute to the decarbonisation objectives of the European Union,” Óscar Puente said.
In this context, the two ministers of transport have agreed to write a letter to the same effect, and to inform the new Minister Delegate in charge of Transport in France, the new Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism when he is appointed, the President of the TRAN Commission of the Parliament, and the Directorate General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission of the letter from President Pedro Sánchez and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.
These letters will be a continuation of the one sent in April to request a boost to the new railway infrastructure of the sections closest to the Pyrenees of the Atlantic and Mediterranean corridors.
At the end of the sectoral meetings and the plenary meeting of Portuguese and Spanish Ministers, 11 agreements were signed which are “very important for the construction of a sustainable future and cooperation between the two States”, Portugal’s Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, said.
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