Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) has revived the project to bury the Alcântara rail node in Lisbon, with tangible steps now under way. The infrastructure manager confirmed this week that its technical teams are revising and updating the detailed design.
The aim is to submit the scheme to environmental impact assessment during 2027. If the programme holds, entry into service could be achieved by 2034.
The update was outlined by IP Vice-President Carlos Fernandes during the Porto–Lisboa–Setúbal Info Day held at Alcântara maritime terminal. He acknowledged the decision to reactivate the scheme was taken in recent months. He warned that costs will exceed earlier estimates—around €200 million when included in the National Investment Programme 2030 (PNI 2030) in 2020—although neither the uplift nor the funding model has yet been defined.
A Lisbon tunnel with four tph
The intervention entails placing the railway through Alcântara in tunnel, enabling a grade-separated link between the Cascais Line and the Cintura Line without disrupting traffic. The existing connection—used only by freight—crosses up to four heavily trafficked avenues at grade. Consequently, for passenger services, Alcântara-Terra currently operates as a terminus on the Azambuja Line.
Once this scheme is delivered, alongside quadrupling of the Cintura Line—another key priority for the Lisbon metropolitan area—Cascais Line services will be able to run through to Entrecampos, Roma-Areeiro and Lisboa Oriente. The new tunnel is planned for a capacity of four passenger trains per hour.
New underground station and metro interchange
The project includes a new underground Alcântara-Terra station, to be sited closer to the Tagus, beneath Rua de Cascais.
It will interchange with a future Alcântara metro station to be built as part of the Red Line extension from São Sebastião. The existing Alcântara-Terra station will be decommissioned once the underground facility opens.
A scheme dating from 2009
The original study was commissioned in 2009 by Refer, later incorporated into IP. The financial crisis and austerity measures during the troika period froze the initiative for more than a decade.
Reinstated in 2020 within PNI 2030, with an initial delivery window of 2023–2027, the project stalled again until this latest announcement.
Fernandes highlighted the scheme’s complexity—both technically and in terms of stakeholders—but stated the objective is to complete the detailed design before the end of 2026.
However, commissioning by 2034 appears unlikely. Major engineering projects in Portugal tend to overrun, as evidenced by current rail programmes.