The future direct high-speed rail link between Porto and Lisbon airports could improve “flight sharing”, Rosário Partidário, coordinator of the Independent Technical Commission for the new airport, told Lusa next Friday.
“I see this positively. It means, for example, having a flight share. Imagine that someone comes from Brazil to Lisbon and has a flight that leaves Porto to somewhere else in Europe. Instead of waiting for a flight from Lisbon to Porto, take the high-speed train”, said Rosário Partidário this Friday, after Lusa was questioned.
The professor and researcher in Planning, Urban and Environment at the Instituto Superior Técnico at the University of Lisbon spoke on the side of the seminar O Que Faz Falta: Portugal S, M, L, XL, which took place this Friday at Casa da Arquitetura , in Matosinhos (Porto area).
“There will be an hour and a half call. I see this as an opportunity and not a problem”, he said, recognizing that “it could be seen as an outflow of passengers”, by “emptying the Port and putting. [os passageiros] in Lisbon, and vice versa”.
However, this will be a “management issue that will be subject to whoever manages the airports — which is Vinci at the moment, assuming it continues to manage this”.
To a specialist He also defended that “there should be high speed connecting other areas of the country”as well as the “North of Lisbon and Spain”.
“Or, if it is not high speed, there should be a concern, in fact, in the National Railway Plan, to connect Portugal completely with railways”, he suggested.
The CTI coordinator listed that “one of the current concerns” is the connections of the new Lisbon airport “with other areas of the country, within Alentejo, within Beiras, within Trás-os-Montes” .
“It’s not just a line issue, it’s a frequency issue. It is a question about the development of these areas”, he said.
Rosário Partidário contested the idea that the Alcochete Shooting Range is “in the south of the country” because it is south of the Tagus (it is even aligned, in latitude, with Lisbon).
For the specialist, the centrality of the infrastructure is given “precisely, through accessibility, mobility, and the ability to use it and be available throughout the different regions of the country”.
The new Lisbon airport, called Luís de Camões, will be connected to the high-speed line, which was one of the premises of all the members of the Independent Technical Commission, Rosário Partidário also this Friday.
The first stage (Porto-Soure) of the high-speed line in Portugal should be ready in 2030, while the second stage (Soure-Carregado) is scheduled for completion in 2032, with a connection to Lisbon via the North Line.
The connection from Porto to Vigo, in Galicia (Spain), scheduled for 2032, will have stations at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, Braga, Ponte de Lima and Valença (Viana do Castelo area).
In total, according to the previous government, investment costs for the Lisbon-Valença axis are around seven to eight billion euros.
This value does not take into account the Lisbon-Madrid link and the third crossing over the Tagus, which has already been promoted by the current Government.