Civil Protection rejects security projects at metro stations in Porto and Lisbon

Civil protection rejected fire safety projects at the Manuel Leão metro stations in Gaia, Porto, which opened last year, and at Estrela and Santos, in Lisbon, which are still under construction.

The National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority (ANEPC) told the Público newspaper that the first fire safety project for the Manuel Leão station, part of the Yellow Line, which connects the Hospital de São João, in Porto, to the Urbanização de Vila d'Este, in Vila Nova de Gaia, was rejected in July 2023, when it was still under construction.

The problems detected at Manuel Leão station concern the calculation of the maximum number of people that can be in the station, an important value for determining the conditions necessary for evacuating the site, namely the number of exits and the width of the stairs.

The station was opened on June 28, 2024, even after a first fire protection project was rejected in July 2023.

The Porto Metro company told the newspaper that it is awaiting the outcome of a hierarchical appeal it filed, guaranteeing "that its integrated security system has been approved by the IMT, with the Santo Ovídio -- Vila d'Este extension being the first section of the network to have its security process assessed and approved by an external auditor, RINA Services".

"All systems were tested and deemed fit and operational upon entry into service," according to information sent by the company to the newspaper.

When asked whether a negative opinion from the authority should not prevent the station from opening, ANEPC said "it is not the entity responsible for licensing its operation or exploitation".

The Institute for Mobility and Transport (IMT), which is the railway safety authority, explained to Público that as there is no "specific legal regime for the regulation of metropolitan rail transport systems, these services are established through protocols between the IMT and the different entities that operate this transport service".

"In the case of Porto Metro, a protocol signed in 2019 defines that the company is responsible for receiving the integrated system, with IMT providing any technical assistance requested", according to IMT.

As for the Estrela and Santos stations in Lisbon, which are still under construction and are scheduled to open in about a year, ANEPC told the newspaper that the "rejection [in September last year) is related, among other situations, to failure to comply with the maximum distance (15 meters) permitted from the ends of the boarding platform to the first protected evacuation route that will take people outside".

The two projects also do not include the existence of emergency generators that ensure a source of energy in the event of a failure in the public grid.

Another reason for the rejection is related to the omission of an analysis of the risk of atmospheric discharges with a view to assessing the need for a lightning rod.

The Lisbon Metro confirmed to the newspaper the existence of the two negative opinions, stating that it "has not yet submitted new requests to ANEPC", as they are being "adapted to the respective projects".