According to CP, the connection between Santa Apolónia and Campanhã stations will be reduced to two hours and 48 minutes on the Alfa Pendular and to three hours and 13 minutes on the Intercidades service.

You have to go back to April 2007 to find the last time the train journey between the country's two largest cities recovered time. At the time, the Alfa Pendular started connecting Lisbon and Porto in two hours and 44 minutes instead of the previous two hours and 55 minutes (in the fastest trip), according to the Viajar Sobre Carris portal. After that time, passengers began to spend more time on board, reaching two hours and 58 minutes in the case of the Alfa Pendular, and three hours and 23 minutes in the Intercidades.

However, this trip will only be shortened for a short time, as work on renewing the road between Ovar and Espinho — a 19-kilometer route — is scheduled to begin next year. The work should last around three years, which will imply new speed limitations for trains for two years, according to information given to railway operators by Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).