LISBON Metro has launched a tender for the construction of a 4km extension of the Red Line from São Sebastião to Alcântara.

The project has a budget of €405.4m, revised from the original estimate of €304m at the end of 2022 due to higher prices for raw materials and labour.

The Red Line extension will have three new underground stations at Amoreiras, Campo de Ourique and Infante Santo, while the terminus at Alcântara will be on the surface.

Interchange will be provided at Alcântara with the future Western Sustainable Intermodal Line (Lios), a 24.4km light rail line running west to Cruz Quebrada that it is estimated will cost €490m to build.

Potential bidders have until April 30 to express their interest in the Red Line extension contract. The project is due for completion by the end of 2026.

According to Portugal’s minister of the environment and climate action, Mr Duarte Cordeiro, the extended Red Line should attract an additional 25 million passengers a year, replacing 1.9 million car journeys and saving 24,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

He also announced the launch of tendering later this year for the 13km Violet Line, a surface metro route running from Odivelas to Loures with 19 stations.

Lisbon Metro carried a total of 136 million passengers in 2022, up 63% on the year before but still 26% short of total traffic in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

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