en.Wedoany.com Reported - The design-build tender for the second section (Oiã to Soure) of Portugal's Lisbon-Porto high-speed railway closed on Monday, with two consortia submitting bids. The base price for this section is €1.6 billion.
The AVAN Norte consortium, led by Mota-Engil and including Teixeira Duarte, Casais, Alves Ribeiro, Conduril, Gabriel Couto, and Manuel Couto Alves, submitted a bid. Another consortium, led by Sacyr and comprising DST and Alberto Couto Alves (ACA), also submitted a proposal.
Portugal's Infrastructure company (Infraestruturas de Portugal, IP) officially launched the international public tender for this section under a public-private partnership (PPP) on January 22, as part of the Porto-Lisbon high-speed rail line (LAV). This is the second tender for this section, following the failure of the first tender, which was canceled because the sole bid from the Mota-Engil consortium did not meet the document requirements.
The PPP project (referred to as PPP2) covers the design, planning, and construction of approximately 61 kilometers of new high-speed railway line; the adaptation of the existing Coimbra station to accommodate high-speed services; the expansion of the Northern Line from Taveiro to the southern entrance of Coimbra station into four tracks; the construction of a new traction substation in the Coimbra area; and connections between the high-speed line and the Northern Line near Oiã, Adémia, and Taveiro, totaling approximately 22 kilometers. PPP2 also includes the maintenance and availability guarantee of the aforementioned elements, except for the Northern Line sections and the Coimbra station that require modification.
The second PPP project involves the concession, construction, and maintenance of 60 kilometers of track, as well as 18 kilometers of connections between the high-speed line and the conventional line, of which 25 kilometers consist of bridges and viaducts. It also includes the renovation of Coimbra station, the creation of a station district, and the construction of pedestrian access to the city center.
Compared to the first tender, the government maintained the original base price but reduced the scope of work, shortening the section length from 71 kilometers to 60 kilometers and canceling one connection to the Northern Line. According to the Jornal de Negócios, the Oiã-Soure section ends at Taveiro.
The concession contract for this section will be awarded at a net present value of up to €1,603,362,559.37 (approximately €1.6 billion), based on December 2023 prices. The total contract duration is 30 years, including an estimated development period of five and a half years and an estimated infrastructure availability period of 24 and a half years. Payments from IP to the future concessionaire will be spread over 30 years, with an estimated maximum amount of €4,765,379,097.59 (approximately €4.8 billion) at current prices, plus up to €600,000,000 (approximately €600 million) from public funds to cover costs related to project execution, land acquisition, camp setup and maintenance, supervision services, and works eligible for community funding program applications.
The development phase of the PPP is five years, with an availability period of 25 years. According to Portugal's Infrastructure company, construction is expected to take place between 2027 and 2032. Infrastructure Minister Miguel Pinto Luz previously stated that the contract is expected to be signed in 2027.
