“In the single bridge solution, the difficulties associated with the separation of competences and responsibilities for operating the railway and road decks are also evident, but mainly the impact on railway operations that an accident or repair on the road bridge could cause and vice versa”he still defends.
It also reveals that this solution “it has already been submitted for consideration by the municipalities of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia, having received a favorable agreement, formally in the case of the Vila Nova de Gaia Chamber, for its development to the detriment of the solution proposed in the competition”.
The location of the Gaia high-speed station in Santo Ovídio, with connection to the two metro lines (Amarela and Rubi), and the solution of a road-rail bridge over the Douro are planned from September 2022, when the first presentation of the high-speed line project.
IP is carrying out a “technical and legal analysis” of the consortium’s proposal for the Gaia high-speed station, confirming that it has received elements outside of those submitted in the public tender, including the station’s preliminary design “in a location further south than the solution studied by IP in Santo Ovídio”.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) told Lusa in September that it financed the high-speed line, based on the proposal that complies with the specifications of the public tender, which the proposal initially submitted by the consortium “reflects the depth and specifications approved during the public tender process and reflected in the project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)”and that “any material change to the project would require a formal review by creditors and relevant authorities”.
The Porto-Oiã section of the high-speed line received financing from the EIB of 875 million euros, with the total cost of the section being 1,661 million euros.
On April 16, the Government assured that “any possible change will have to be fully safeguarded from a legal point of view, be in full accordance with the requirements of the specifications and ensure the agreement of the municipalities”stating that the consortium’s initial proposal “was aligned with the draft presented by IP”.
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