Lisbon, May 27, 2026 (Lusa) – Metropolitano de Lisboa (ML), which currently holds the concession for the underground network in Portugal's capital city, Lisbon, will take responsibility for the commuter light rail surface network, based on a decree-law published on Wednesday in the official government gazette.
The framework for the public passenger transport concession in the municipality of Lisbon and the wider Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) was published on Wednesday. Decree-law 106/2026 establishes the rules for the light rail surface network, while maintaining the underground concession currently assigned to the state-owned ML company.
Amendments to the previous 2014 legislation aim to reinforce public transport services between Lisbon and the surrounding AML municipalities, "making it easier, faster, and more accessible for citizens to travel between these areas and the centre of Lisbon."
Legislation was required to alter the company's corporate purpose, allowing ML to operate public transport services underground and on the surface, the preamble of the diploma says.
The concession primarily covers activities and services focused on passenger transport via the metropolitan network.
The decree-law says that the concession may include "expansions of the Lisbon metro network which, due to their specific characteristics, are or will be carried out through high-capacity public transport systems, namely in the form of surface light rail."
Government ministers responsible for finance, infrastructure, and transport will be able to delegate a specific mission to the Lisbon Metro. Based on the decree, this task involves "ensuring all actions inherent to executing the extension of the light rail system from the south bank of the river Tagus to Costa de Caparica".
The state may delegate the "construction, installation, renewal, maintenance, and management of railway infrastructure, high-capacity public transport systems, as well as the respective rolling stock, which are not and will not be assigned to its core activity."
The preamble further says that ML's "current period of growth and development," alongside broader mobility changes in the AML, including the implementation of the circular line, the extension of the red line, the construction of the violet line, and the extension of Metro Sul do Tejo (the light rail serving Almada-Seixal on the south bank of the river Tagus), "is vital to address environmental concerns and combat climate change, aligning with sustainability goals and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, attracting more people to public transport, and ensuring modal shift."
"With the growing emphasis on reducing the carbon footprint and promoting eco-friendly transport alternatives, ML must make its operation more sustainable. The expansion of the metro network is an important step towards encouraging the use of public transport and reducing road traffic in the AML," it says.
RCP/RYOL // AYLS
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