Government declares urgent expropriation of land for the Porto-Aveiro high-speed rail

The Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Hugo Morato Alface do Espírito Santo, has declared as being in the public interest, with a character of urgency, the expropriation of the land parcels necessary for the execution of the “Porto (Campanhã)-Aveiro (Oiã) Section - sub-section 1, of the High-Speed Railway Line”. The decision is contained in Order no. 11947/2026, signed on September 18, 2026, and published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 191, of October 1, 2026.

The decree is part of the first phase of the New Porto-Lisbon High-Speed Railway Line, considered one of the main railway works planned for Portugal and integrated into the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). The launch of the public-private partnership was approved by Order no. 253-A/2024, of January 11, by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, and the investment is planned in the National Investment Program 2030 (PNI 2030), approved by Council of Ministers Resolution no. 192/2023, of December 26.

The concession for the conception, design, construction, financing, maintenance, and availability of the infrastructure was awarded to the LusoLAV Consortium on October 10, 2024. The concession contract was signed on July 29, 2025, between the grantor Infraestruturas de Portugal, S. A., and the concessionaire AVAN Norte — Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S. A., established for this purpose by the aforementioned consortium.

What the order determines

• The public interest, with a character of urgency, of the expropriations of real estate and the rights inherent to them necessary for the execution of sub-section 1.
• The authorization for AVAN Norte — Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S. A. to take administrative possession of the parcels, under paragraph 2 of article 15 of the Expropriation Code.
• That the costs associated with the expropriations are borne by the concessionaire, which certifies that it has financial coverage ensured by bank guarantees and other financing instruments.

Affected lands and owners

The area map and parcel plans published in the annex identify the assets to be expropriated, including the elements of the property description and land registry entry, the encumbrances affecting them, and the names of the respective holders. The lands are located in the district of Aveiro, in the municipalities of Oliveira do Bairro, Aveiro, and Albergaria-a-Velha, and correspond to sub-section A1, between Km 0+000 and Km 15+500. The attached area map is dated July 10, 2026.

Legal basis and competence

The resolution to request the declaration was approved by a deliberation of the board of directors of AVAN Norte — Gestão da Ferrovia de Alta Velocidade, S. A. on July 22, 2026, under clause 26 of the concession contract, which grants the concessionaire the powers and prerogatives of authority for expropriation for public utility. The order invokes articles 1, 3, and paragraph 1 of article 10, subparagraph a) of paragraph 1 of article 14, paragraphs 1 and 2 of article 15, and paragraph 1 of article 19 of the Expropriation Code, and the competence delegated by Order No. 12445/2025, dated October 15, from the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 205, dated October 23, 2025.

The declaration marks the effective start of the works on the first sub-section of the Porto (Campanhã)-Oiã section, by allowing entry into the lands before the conclusion of the compensation processes. For the owners of the identified plots, the phase of negotiation and arbitration of compensations now opens, with the concessionaire assuming full responsibility for the costs. The Government justifies the urgency based on the public interest in the swift execution of the work, which is expected to free up traffic capacity on the Northern Line and strengthen territorial cohesion and the competitiveness of the medium-sized cities served by the route.

Source: Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 191, dated October 1, 2026, Part C — Government and direct and indirect state administration, p. 1 (official reference: Order No. 11947/2026).