High-speed rail from Portugal to Spain moving forward

The high-speed rail link between Porto and Vigo in Spain will be completed in 2032, giving the North of Portugal and Galicia “a unique geostrategic position”, according to the Minister of Infrastructure.

“Porto-Vigo [at high speed] is not a study. It is an achievement. We will make the investment and complete it in 2032. And we believe that Spain will then have completed the investment on the Spanish side,” said Minister Miguel Pinto Luz, in Vigo, where he participated in the Conectando el Noroeste meeting, promoted by the Pontevedra Business Confederation, and which was also attended by the president of the Junta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela.

With the completion of the high-speed link, Northern Portugal and Galicia will have a “unique geostrategic position”, he added.

At stake, says Pinto Luz, will be a “new macro-region that will lead the economy, that will lead geostrategically, in infrastructure and in the Iberian Peninsula”.

“We don’t think that the country is just Lisbon. We see Porto as a new hub and Galicia as a key partner,” he assured.

According to the minister, this happens because the Government believes “very, very, very much in this Euroregion” and because it believes a lot in the North of Portugal and Galicia.

The minister stressed that Portugal “really needs Galicia to make this vision of a Euroregion that can compete with the major regions of Europe a reality”.

Regarding the deadlines for the Porto-Vigo high-speed line, the minister explained that the Braga-Valença and Campanhã-Aeroporto (Porto) connections will be completed in 2032, which will allow the connection between Porto and the Valença border.

According to Pinto Luz, “still this year” there will be “advances” in these two sections necessary to close at high speed to Vigo.

According to the minister, “the [Iberian] summit did not change these commitments in the slightest”.

“The main priority for both governments [Portuguese and Spanish] is Lisbon-Vigo in 2032 and Lisbon-Madrid in 2034,” he stressed.

At today's meeting of the Pontevedra Business Confederation, the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, said he had “nothing against” the Lisbon-Madrid connection, but highlighted that demand for the Porto-Vigo connection is “seven times greater”.

“We need the governments of Spain and Portugal to realize that countries do not end in their capitals. We need to start working urgently, not just say more words,” he argued.

For the mayor, “this Europe urgently needs high-speed, clean and sustainable infrastructures”.