The Council of Ministers approved works for the high-speed rail connection (LAV) between Lisbon and Madrid, which will allow the two cities to be connected in a journey that will take three hours.

The decision, explains the Government in a statement, "is intended to offer a competitive rail transport alternative" and establishes the following journey times as an objective:

Porto-Lisbon – 1h15

Lisbon-Madrid – 3h00

Porto-Vigo – 0h50

In the Government's opinion, "LAV provides a competitive rail alternative to daily flights, with 40 flights between Lisbon and Madrid and around 20 between Porto and Lisbon".

With this alternative, on the connection between Lisbon and Madrid, LAV will reduce the journey time to 6h00 in 2027 and to 3h00 in 2034, when the entire route is operational, according to Government calculations.

It is important to emphasize that the "timing of investments will be compatible with Spain, to guarantee a coordinated and timely execution of the project, fully optimising the availability of European financing".