High-speed rail line expropriations affecting land parcels in Portugal

The initial expropriations for the high-speed rail line between Porto and Lisbon are advancing in the Aveiro district, affecting more than 1,000 land parcels across three municipalities along a 15.5-kilometre stretch of the A1.

By TPN/Lusa, in News · 11 Oct 2026, 09:03 · 0 Comments

At issue is an order issued on 18 September by the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Espírito Santo—published last week in the Diário da República (Official Gazette)—covering 1,076 parcels in Oliveira do Bairro (Oiã parish), Aveiro (the united parishes of Requeixo, Nossa Senhora de Fátima, and Nariz; and the united parishes of Eixo and Eirol), and Albergaria-a-Velha (the united parishes of São João de Loure and Frossos; the united parishes of Albergaria-a-Velha and Valmaior; and Angeja).

The government order declares the expropriations—deemed to be in the public interest—to be urgent. AVAN, the consortium that won the concession to build the first section (Porto–Oiã), will carry them out; the consortium comprises Mota-Engil, Serena, Teixeira Duarte, Casais, Alves Ribeiro, Conduril, and Gabriel Couto.

“The costs associated with the expropriations in question are to be borne by the concessionaire, AVAN Norte – Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S.A., which has certified that it possesses secured financial coverage through bank guarantees and other financing instruments,” the government stated.

On 15 September, a source from AVAN indicated that preparatory work for the construction of the Porto–Oiã section was set to begin at the end of the month. “Regarding fieldwork, the outlook is for the initial preparatory work and mobilisations to kick off here at the end of this month; we will begin in the south—specifically in the Aveiro area—across several work fronts,” said Álvaro Fonseca, Operations Director at AVAN.

The same source previously indicated that preparatory work would begin in September, with construction sites set up for the Rio Largo and Rio Vouga bridges, while the first excavations, land clearing, and earthworks are taking place this month.

The Porto–Oiã section (71 kilometres) of the Porto–Lisbon high-speed line corresponds to Lot A of the line’s first construction phase. This phase also includes Lot B (Oiã–Soure), which has not yet been awarded, and the second phase (Soure–Carregado), which awaits the launch of a public tender.

The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2030, and the second in 2032.

The concession contract for the Porto–Oiã section—expected to cost around two billion euros—was signed on 29 July 2025; the project benefits from €875 million in financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and €480 million from the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF 2).

By 2032, the line is expected to connect Porto and Lisbon in one hour and 15 minutes—with possible stops in Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra, and Leiria—and connect Porto to Vigo (via Porto Airport, Braga, Ponte de Lima, and Valença) in 50 minutes.

The Lisbon–Porto, Porto–Vigo, and Lisbon–Madrid high-speed lines fall under the National Investment Plan 2030 (PNI 2030) at the national level and the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) Regulation at the European Union level.