Tunnel of the Pink Line of the Porto metro already passes under the Rectory

At a depth of 27 meters, in Jardim do Carregal, the tunnel for the Pink Line of the metro, which will connect Casa da Música to S. Bento, in Porto, is born. It has already grown to the Rectory of the University of Porto, with 585 meters in length. The work should be completed by December 31, 2024.

As the tunnels are built from top to bottom, around seven work fronts are open in Porto to reach S. Bento, crossing the Historic Center of Porto in a journey of almost three kilometers. A part of the channel is being torn at a depth of 27 meters, in Jardim do Carregal, already 585 meters long. It was this same tunnel that the president of Metro do Porto, Tiago Braga, the Minister of the Environment, Duarte Cordeiro, and the Secretary of State for Urban Mobility, Jorge Delgado, visited this Friday.

The channel is being torn from Boavista, Galicia and Jardim do Carregal. The latter two are expected to join between March and May of next year. The cost of the work also rose, now standing at the level of 246 million euros. The evolution of the works is currently at 40%.

Pace of work will slow down

It is 27 meters below ground, at the bottom of a ventilation and emergency shaft right in the middle of Jardim do Carregal, that part of the future tunnel runs through the Historic Center of Porto. From there, it has already ripped up 585 meters of stone, and is now right under the Rectory of the University of Porto. And that’s why, now, the “advance step” will decrease.

“We are picking up a material of poorer quality, which will force us to reduce the advance pace and install a different support system, to control the deformations on the surface. With the Rectory up here, there is some care we have to take” , explained to journalists one of the technicians working at Metro, during the visit to the tunnel. To compensate, and meet the established deadline, more work fronts will be opened.

The company’s objective, asserts Tiago Braga, is to have the work completed on December 31, 2024. This, so that Metro can then move on to “the pre-operation phase”. “We will have to test all systems, from signaling, rail safety systems, customer support systems, operating, ticketing, vending machines, etc. In other words, a battery of tests that takes, under normal circumstances, , about two to three months”, clarifies the chairman of Metro’s Board of Directors.

If everything goes as expected, “at the end of the first quarter of 2025 we will be able to start operating the Linha Rosa”, notes Tiago Braga.

“This line alone will allow, from an environmental point of view, to attract, according to our expectations and studies, five million passengers and remove 1500 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent”, notes the Minister of the Environment, Duarte Cordeiro.

Tests of new vehicles are ending

There is already a new Metro vehicle reaching the five thousand kilometers required for tests. Therefore, the Chairman of the Board of Directors expects to debut, between the end of June and the beginning of July of this year, the new composition. The rest will not need such an extensive testing phase, just reaching 500 kilometers.

The increase in the fleet will allow Metro, in September, to operate the Yellow Line with 12 vehicles per hour and per direction. The extension of this route between Santo Ovídio and Vila d’Este is expected to start operating in early 2024.