Porto, Portugal, Dec. 10, 2025 (Lusa) - The Porto city council will invite the board of directors of the city metro, Metro do Porto, to an executive meeting in January to analyse the situation of the metrobus and other projects of the transport company, according to a proposal approved on Wednesday.

A proposal to hold an extraordinary public meeting with Gonçalo Mayan Gonçalves, classified as "representative of the Porto city council in the Metro management", and the president of the Porto public transport company (STCP), Cristina Pimentel, was brought to today's executive meeting by the sole councillor of Chega, Miguel Corte-Real, but due to a "question of formalities" it was not voted on and will be reformulated to be a request made to the city mayor.

"I had some doubts about scheduling the motion for a strictly formal reason, because our rules of procedure provide for a methodology for convening extraordinary meetings and it is not provided for the body itself to convene (...) it is through a request sent to the mayor," explained the mayor, Pedro Duarte.

The mayor pointed out to the councillors that there is no representative of the local authority on the transport company's board of directors and, "in order not to convene someone with a status they do not have", he suggested inviting the entire board of directors to a meeting that will not be extraordinary, but which will have the requested topic on the agenda.

"I will, of course, invite the Metro board of directors. Even if they don't come, we will hold a meeting among ourselves - but I have no doubt that they will accept. I don't summon the board of directors, I invite them," he added.

On behalf of Chega, Miguel Corte-Real accepted the transformation of the motion into a request sent to the mayor, since the objective is "to solve a problem that affects people."

PS councillor Manuel Pizarro warned that putting this item on the agenda of an ordinary meeting may not be enough, since "it would take two or three days to discuss the Metro do Porto projects", pointing out that, in addition to the metrobus, it is necessary to talk about the delays in the construction of the Rosa and Rubi lines.

The socialist also questioned the city mayor about the start of the first phase of the metrobus, and Pedro Duarte assured him that he is working with Metro do Porto and that in January "a solution to this problem" will be presented.

The first phase of the metrobus, between Casa da Música and Praça do Império, has been completed since the summer of 2024, and the second phase, suspended by the new Metro do Porto board of directors in October, resumed on 3 November on Avenida da Boavista, between Colégio do Rosário and Fonte da Moura.

A month earlier, Metro do Porto had decided to make a "temporary technical stop" to the work on this second phase of the metrobus.

Work on the second phase of the metrobus began on 22 September, in the dedicated bus lane on Avenida da Boavista, on the section between Rua Jorge Reinel and Avenida do Dr. Antunes Guimarães, and was contested by both candidates for the presidency of the local authority and the general public, particularly with regard to the felling of trees.

At the time the project was underway, the company was led by Tiago Braga, who has since been replaced by Emídio Gomes, former rector of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.

Just over two weeks ago, Pedro Duarte said that Porto city council had already received the final version of the memorandum of understanding necessary for the metrobus to operate, with the signing of the document being "a matter of days away".

The operation of the metrobus depends on the signing of this memorandum of understanding, which is a four-party agreement between the State, Porto city council, Metro do Porto and STCP.

The Porto metrobus will be a hydrogen-powered bus service connecting Casa da Música to Praça do Império and Anémona (in the second phase) in 12 and 17 minutes, respectively.

The vehicles and energy production system cost €29.5 million. The metrobus project itself costs around €76 million.

AFG/AYLS // AYLS

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