According to Jornal de Negócios the change involves including not only the design and construction but also responsibility for the management and operation of the line.

This is because, in the Government's view, it could attract other types of candidates to the project, such as Brisa or the Vinci group, which lost interest in the line between Lisbon and Porto because the competition model was geared towards financing and construction and not for the operation. In this case, Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) defined that the project would be carried out through three concession contracts for design, construction, maintenance and financing — Porto-Oiã, Oiã-Soure and Soure-Carregado –, excluding the operation.

In May last year, the Executive mandated IP to bring forward all necessary studies to ensure the completion of the connection between Lisbon and Madrid in 2034, with the aim of achieving a travel time of three hours between the two capitals.

Studies are currently underway, and the first phase of this project, the connection between Évora and Elvas, is already under construction and should be completed this year.