The promise had already been made: the buses in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) will now have a common brand - Metropolitan Railway - and the yellow color that so well characterizes the vehicles of Carris. The company will also be born Lisbon Metropolitan Transports (TML)which will manage Carris Metropolitana and the entire AML transport system, including the ticketing system. The international public tender for the purchase of new buses was launched in February and there are now seven bids on the table.
The tender, worth 1.2 billion euros, will enable a 40% increase in the supply of buses in the AML, which will all be the same, yellow, and will operate with the brand Carris Metropolitana. The ticketing system will be common and the network maps have been simplified. As reported in the newspaper Público in FebruaryThe new network map took more than a year to be designed with the input of all 18 municipalities of the AML and with attention to commuting movements between these municipalities, but also with the neighboring municipalities of the AML. All told, 127 existing careers will be maintained, 321 reinforced, and 130 new ones created. Municipalities such as Setúbal, Palmela and Mafra will benefit the most from this network enlargement, which will cover, in total, 2.7 million people.
For the contest, AML was divided into four lots, two on the north bank and two on the south bank of the Tagus. The four lots have been put up for tender, and since the winning companies cannot hold more than 50% of the offer, there cannot be two lots given to the same operator unless one of them is lot 4, which is smaller in size.
Lots for bidding
- Lot 1 - Northwest: municipal lines in Amadora, Oeiras and Sintra, and intermunicipal lines connecting to Cascais, Lisbon and outside AML; total of 133 lines (35 new); 33% demand (according to data from the Mobility Survey)
- Lot 2 - Northeast: municipal lines in Mafra, Loures, Odivelas and Vila Franca de Xira, and intercity lines connecting to Lisbon and outside AML; 218 lines (31 new); 32% demand
- Lot 3 - Southwest: municipal lines in Almada, Seixal and Sesimbra, and inter-municipal lines connecting Barreiro and Lisbon and outside AML; 116 lines (43 new); 18% demand
- Lot 4 - Southeast: municipal lines in Alcochete, Moita, Montijo, Palmela and Setúbal, and intermunicipal lines connecting Barreiro and Lisbon and outside AML; 111 lines (21 new); 14% demand
Private operators already operating in the AML, but also other companies from outside, were allowed to bid; municipal companies, which already provide transportation within their municipalities - Carris in Lisbon, Scotturb in Cascais, and TCB in Barreiro - were not allowed to bid.
The winning companies will have a ten-month transition period to adapt their entire fleet to the tender requirements and to the Carris Metropolitana brand. At the start of the operation of the new AML transport network, no buses older than 16 years will be allowed to circulate, and the average age required is eight years; in the fifth year of the contract, the targets are tighter: no vehicles older than 12 years will be allowed to circulate, and the average age will be six.
Four Winners
- Lot 1 - will be the responsibility of the consortium formed by Scotturb e Vialagustwo companies that are already present in this region (Amadora, Oeiras and Sintra)
- Lot 2 - will be operated by Lisbon Bus Stationof the Barraqueiro group, which already ensures many of the routes in this area (Mafra, Loures, Odivelas and Vila Franca de Xira)
- Lot 3 - will be the responsibility of Transportes Sul do Tejo (TST)of the Arriva group, which also provides part of the service in the region (Almada, Seixal and Sesimbra)
- Lot 4 - will be in the hands of Nex Continental Holdingsa consortium formed by Nex Continental/ALSA, Transvia and Empresa de Transporte Luísa Todi (Alcochete, Moita, Montijo, Palmela and Setúbal)
Transportes Metropolitanos de Lisboa (TML) will be responsible for coordinating the connection between Carris Metropolitana and the other means of transport - train, metro and boat. TML will also manage all the ticketing and associated technological platform, replacing the current company Operadores de Transportes da Região de Lisboa (OTLIS).
The first calendar indicated the start of Carris Metropolitana in mid 2021. But the process has been delayed and it is now expected that the changes will become visible on the streets in late 2021 or early 2022. The companies Carris, Scotturb and TCB will not be part of the Carris Metropolitana operation because they are owned by their respective municipalities - Lisbon, Cascais and Barreiro.
