Lisbon, Oct. 10, 2024 (Lusa) — According to the proposed budget for 2025, the government plans to invest €490 million in railways in 2025 and €395 million in the road sector, for a total of €885 million.
"The investment programmes for the construction, requalification and modernisation of the National Railway Network will continue, based on the conclusion of the Railway 2020 Investment Programme and the development of the National Investment Programme 2030 (PNI 2030), with a planned investment of €490 million in 2025," reads the report accompanying the proposal, delivered to parliament today.
Among the main interventions are "the modernisation of the Beira Alta Line, the construction of the new Alentejo Line, linking Évora to Caia, the electrification of the Oeste and Algarve Lines, the modernisation of the Sines Line and the Cascais Line," according to the document.
The government plans to "continue modernising the Douro Line (work has begun on the Marco/Régua section)".
In addition, concerning PNI 2030, the development of the project for the new Porto—Lisbon High Speed (AV) line, which was awarded the contract for the first public-private partnership (PPP) on Thursday, should be emphasised "due to its importance".
"Concerning the Porto - Valença - Vigo AV link, the studies and projects for Phase 1 are expected to be completed in 2025", and on the Lisbon-Madrid AV link, various studies will be developed in 2025, following Council of Ministers Resolution no. 68/2024, of 27 May".
At the same time, "the road sector will reach the final stage of development of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) in 2025, focusing on strengthening territorial resilience and cohesion. Overall, total investment in the road sector in 2025 is expected to amount to €395 million."
Today, the government submitted to parliament the proposed budget for 2025 (OE2025), which predicts that the economy will grow by 1.8% in 2024 and 2.1% in 2025.
According to the document, the government forecasts a surplus of 0.4% this year and 0.3% next year.
The proposal has not been approved in general, and the vote is scheduled for the 31st.
If the PSD/CDS government's budget proposal is approved in general with the PS abstention or, alternatively, with the favourable votes of the Chega, it will then be examined in parliament between 22 and 29 November. The final overall vote on the budget is scheduled for 29 November.
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