The plans to privatise the operation of Lisbon and Porto suburban rail services continue to move forward. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said on 21 June that the Cascais line will be the first rail subconcession to be launched, as it is the simplest from a technical standpoint.
The government intends to split CP’s suburban services into four lots: Cascais, Sintra-Azambuja, Sado and the entire Porto network. As Carlos Cipriano of Publico.pt put it, “CP is going to be carved up into four”. So far, only Barraqueiro and Transdev have publicly expressed interest in the process.
The Cascais line has operational advantages because it runs as an isolated system, whereas Sintra-Azambuja shares infrastructure with other services, which makes its management more complex. The Sado line, with five million passengers a year, is less attractive commercially.
In Porto, a full subconcession is being considered despite lower demand, with 28 million passengers compared with 139 million in Lisbon, although rail output levels are similar.
The model under study would see private operators run services under the CP brand and using its rolling stock, including the 136 new Alstom trains. Infrastructure and ownership would remain public.
The process is still awaiting the final version of the Deloitte study and has drawn criticism over a lack of transparency and concerns about its impact on staff and system efficiency.