The Government announced on Tuesday the construction of a new bridge that will be the Third Tagus Crossing (TTT) in Lisbon, between Chelas and Barreiro, and the bridge will be both a railway and road bridge.

"This new crossing will solve capacity constraints in the railway infrastructure in the connections to the south", the Executive promises, in a statement released.

The Executive understands that this new infrastructure "increases the competitiveness of railway services between Lisbon and the southern region (Alentejo and Algarve) with a reduction of about 30 minutes compared to the current routes, as well as with greater frequency of services".

"Reduces the travel time on the Lisbon-Barreiro axis by 10 minutes and on the Lisbon-Setúbal axis by 30 minutes, and also allows for the reinforcement of the suburban railway offer (Cintura Lines, Sintra and Eixo Norte/Sul). Finally, it allows for unrestricted rail freight traffic", considers the Government.

The new bridge will be "essential for access to the New Lisbon Airport, located in the Alcochete Shooting Range" and "the solution of a bridge with a railway line below and a road above solves several problems".

"The road component is complementary to the existing crossings (25 de Abril and Vasco da Gama bridges) whose level of service and reliability are declining. It also reinforces direct accessibility in the Lisbon-Barreiro corridor and improves Lisbon's accessibility to the Barreiro-Moita-Coina triangle, with time savings that, in some cases, reach 50%", says the Executive.

The "railway component is integrated into the Conventional Railway Network (Cintura Line, Alentejo Line and access to the New Lisbon Airport), allowing for the high-speed connection between Lisbon and Madrid".

What are the next steps?

"The next steps in this process are the conclusion of the studies on the characteristics of the TTT and the definition of a new management model for the three Tagus crossings in Lisbon, which includes the construction of the TTT", can be read in the same note.

The Government decided to mandate Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP) to conclude the studies for the construction of the TTT and the Lisbon-Madrid high-speed rail link, announced the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro.

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