The town councils of Loures and Odivelas are working with Metro de Lisboa on a light rail system to improve mobility in the two municipalities. The project will be part of the Recovery and Resilience Plan that the government will present to the European Commission, as Público reports.
The idea on the table is a surface metro line with a total of 12.4 kilometers and two branches running from the Odivelas Metro station: one of these arms will connect to Infantado, and the other will reach the Beatriz Ângelo Hospital (the Loures Hospital). Although the terminus stations are both in Loures, this metro line would also benefit the people of Odivelas. That's why the two municipalities are going to sign a collaboration protocol this Wednesday to give the first kick-off together.
Público writes that the route has been under study by Metro de Lisboa since the end of 2019 and is based on an expansion project announced in 2009at the time, the Yellow Line was to be extended from Odivelas with two branches: one to Infantado, and the other passing through Ramada and ending at Bons Dias. While the first branch remains practically identical in this new project, the second is now proposed to run north to Loures Hospital.
The option of a surface metro, similar to the one in Almada, will allow the investment required to be lower, "between 250 and 300 million euros"according to the Mayor of Loures, Bernardino Soares (CDU). The funding could be European and, as far as deadlines are concerned, the project is expected to be completed in the next few years - it could even be before the streetcar line that has already been announced and which will connect Oeiras, Lisbon and Loures. However, there are still many stages ahead: the government has to submit the final version of the Recovery and Resilience Plan to Brussels at the beginning of 2021 and wait for the approval of the projects and the respective financial tranches. Meanwhile, writes Público, the municipalities of Loures and Odivelas and Metro de Lisboa are going ahead with preliminary studies, feasibility assessments and the design of the project itself so that within 14 months it will be possible to move on to the next phase, construction.
