The railway connection between Évora and Elvas, part of the Southern International Corridor, will be completed at the end of this month. It is one of the main investments of the Ferrovia 2020 plan and will reduce the costs of transporting goods between the Port of Sines and Spain.
It is the biggest railway project in the last 100 years and is almost finished. The railway connection between Évora and Caia, part of the Southern International Corridor, will be completed by the end of this year. But it doesn’t mean that the trains will start running straight away, as there are complex tests to be carried out.
It is necessary to evaluate the conditions of the work, safety and interoperability, especially because all new infrastructure built in Europe must meet these criteria. This is one of the main investments of the Ferrovia 2020 plan.
But, over the last ten years, the work of Infraestruturas de Portugal missed completion deadlines several times. Added to the complexity of the work are the consequences of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, environmental issues and other unforeseen events. Ten months of delay on the Alandroal–Linha de Leste section.
But the work between Évora Norte and Freixo also had unforeseen events with archaeological discoveries. These works more than doubled the expected deadline for completion and, also, costs increased. The four contracts for the construction of the new connection between Évora and Caia were awarded for 339 million euros, but will cost more than 400 million.
This is the single line built from scratchwhich will make it possible to connect Portuguese ports and the city of Lisbon to Spain more quickly. It will be completed by the end of the year. It should come into operation in mid-2026, after testing and the certification process.
