Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, Sept. 1, 2025 (Lusa) - The AVAN Norte consortium, which will build the high-speed train line between Porto and Oiã, is analysing 130 demolitions in Gaia and plans to submit the project's public report this month, an administrator told Lusa.
"The number of 130 demolitions that we have under analysis for the Execution project compares with around 190 demolitions in the Preliminary Study (EIA)," reads a response sent to Lusa by AVAN Norte administrator Eduardo Pimentel.
According to Pimentel, the project "kept all the tunnels located in consolidated urban areas, having occasionally diverted the route (within the environmentally approved corridor), namely in the parish of Grijó, thus avoiding affecting a consolidated urban area that would be indirectly and permanently affected throughout the operation phase".
"Several walls were considered to protect and avoid the demolition of houses and industries, and the route was moved within the environmentally approved 400 metre corridor, thus avoiding several demolitions," he said.
For the head of the consortium, the proposed route "seeks to ensure safety throughout (both during the construction phase and the operation phase) and minimise the impact (of different kinds)".
Eduardo Pimentel also confirmed that the consortium is on the ground carrying out measurements and topographical surveys in Gaia as part of the presentation of the Execution Project Environmental Compliance Report (RECAPE), which "will be submitted in September" to the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
"The population of Gaia will have the opportunity to learn more and participate during the public consultation period, to be promoted by the APA, which will include a public presentation at the end of September," he also said in the replies sent to Lusa.
Last week, the PSD/CDS-PP/IL mayoral candidate for Gaia, Luís Filipe Menezes, denounced "measurements and topographical surveys" for the high-speed line without consulting the future government, considering it disrespectful and lacking in common sense.
For the candidate of the Gaia Sempre na Frente (PSD/CDS-PP/IL) coalition, "this kind of behaviour is unacceptable, especially in the middle of the pre-election period", whose "only result is to alarm citizens who deserve respect, ignoring legitimately elected political bodies and the basic principle of democratic representation".
"We therefore demand that the national political authorities order the immediate suspension of these abusive and irresponsible acts," declared Luís Filipe Menezes, who was mayor of Gaia between 1997 and 2013.
The PS candidate for the Gaia City Council, João Paulo Correia, told Lusa on 5 August that the Avan Norte consortium, which is to build the high-speed line, plans to carry out 135 demolitions in the municipality.
The first high-speed rail concession, the contract for which was signed on 29 July, provides for a new station in Santo Ovídio, Vila Nova de Gaia, and a road-rail bridge over the River Douro, according to a statement from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), something that has been planned since September 2022.
However, the consortium in charge of the project, AVAN Norte (formerly LusoLav: Mota-Engil, Teixeira Duarte, Alves Ribeiro, Casais, Conduril and Gabriel Couto), will propose the high-speed station in Gaia to the south of Santo Ovídio and two bridges over the Douro instead of a road-railway, solutions that differ from the specifications.
The high-speed line is expected to connect Porto and Lisbon in 1 hour and 15 minutes by 2032, with possible stops in Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra, and Leiria.
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