Cristina Pinto Dias spoke at a hearing at the Economy, Public Works and Housing committee of the Assembly of the Republic, in Lisbon, at the request of the PS, about “delays in the Lisbon metro works”.

At the hearing, the Secretary of State began by acknowledging that the news she had to give to deputies “is not good, but it is not news”, guaranteeing, however, that “there are no reversals”, nor would there be “political use of the dossiers”.

“All the projects we receive in this transition portfolio are to be executed […] and we do not intend to play politics with the matter. However, on the date of this Government's inauguration, the delays in the works are a challenge to complying with the community financing calendar. This is the reality”, she stated.

According to the manager, delays in the implementation deadlines for the three lines in question, Yellow/Green, Red and Violet, vary between 18 and 30 months and budget deviations are close to €500 million, with the risk of compromising community funding sources, “if nothing was done”.

The expansion work on the Lisbon Metropolitan Red line covers a length of around four kilometres and four new stations: Campolide/Amoreiras, Campo de Ourique, Infante Santo and Alcântara - and the execution time of the work, with a length of around of four kilometres, which is defined in the contract is the end of 2026.

The Alcântara station will connect to the future Sustainable Intermodal Line, promoting connection to the municipality of Oeiras (LIOS Oeste).

In July, the Minister of Infrastructure said, in parliament, that the Lisbon metro could fail to meet the deadlines for the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), but that even so, the priority in expanding the red line would be maintained.

At the beginning of August, the Secretary of State for Planning and Regional Development, Hélder Reis, said that the Government would re-evaluate projects at risk of not being completed within the estimated deadline so as to not lose PRR funds.

PRR financing foresees an investment in the Lisbon metro of 400 million euros for the expansion of the Red Line, from São Sebastião to Alcântara, and 250 million euros for the new Violet Line (light surface metro), which will connect the Hospital Beatriz Ângelo for Odivelas to Loures, for a total of 650 million euros.

The Circular line, scheduled to open in the second half of 2025, will connect the Rato station to Cais do Sodré, in an extension of another two kilometers of network and two new stations (Estrela and Santos), joining the Yellow and Green lines into a new circular ring in the center of Lisbon.

In addition to the construction of two new stations, the existing station in Cais do Sodré will be remodelled.

The planned investment in the construction of this line is €331 million.