According to the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, it was made clear at a work meeting with "the government of the Xunta de Galicia" that "the priority that existed" from the previous Government, of a high-speed connection between Lisbon and Vigo, "remains", and that just as the executive announced a few days ago, it will add to this investment the need to start "the Lisbon-Madrid connection". "This priority is absolutely clear for the Portuguese Government [...], which is the two hours that will preferably connect Lisbon to Vigo and, later, Lisbon-Madrid in three hours, and therefore, the Iberian Peninsula will certainly be a more cohesive, closer space", said Pinto Luz. The Portuguese minister was speaking at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing, in Lisbon, after a brief meeting with Alfonso Rueda, president of the Xunta de Galicia. "But, here a special mention for Galicia, a special relationship in fact, that the country has with this much more permeable border to the North", he stressed. The minister stressed that the public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the high-speed connection on the Portuguese side "are scheduled", since the previous Government that "were already signalled", and the current executive (PSD/CDS-PP) led by Luís Montenegro reaffirms "this commitment", assuming that there must be "this symbiotic character on both sides". "We have the conditions to ensure that both sides will be aligned in terms of deadlines so that we do not have the work ready on one side of the border and then we do not have it ready on the other side and, therefore, both in Lisbon-Madrid, as in Lisbon-Vigo, the schedules are absolutely linked", assured Miguel Pinto Luz, noting that "these are projects for generations". Regarding the railway gauge adopted in the high-speed connection, the minister assumed that the Government is calm and that "Portugal and Spain are aligned". "We are doing it in Iberian gauge [...], therefore, Spain has the work in progress in Iberian gauge and Portugal will do it in the same gauge as Spain", replied Pinto Luz, adding that the two governments are "absolutely interconnected in the decision and in due time, all the infrastructure is being prepared to be able to have a migration at the right time and this is being negotiated with the European Commission". Asked about possible improvements to the current railway connection between the two Iberian capitals, the minister stressed that "Lisboa-Madrid is a phased project" and the TGV will only be operational in 2034, but until then he promised to "improve the entire service offer". "We will have an increasingly better connection throughout this decade to allow this Lisbon-Madrid connection, therefore, it will not only be in 2034 that [...] we will be able to go with quality between Lisbon and Madrid, in 2034 we will be able to go faster", stressed Pinto Luz, without advancing details of the investments, but guaranteeing that until then we will have the "improvement of this service" and that this "is a gradual and absolutely fundamental process". The president of the Xunta de Galicia explained that the meeting served to "learn first-hand with the person responsible for the Infrastructure of the Portuguese Government" the "perspectives regarding the execution of an infrastructure" that, for Portugal and certainly for Galicia, "is absolutely fundamental", the high-speed rail connection between Galicia and the North of Portugal. Faced with the announcement by the Portuguese Government to implement the connection between Lisbon and Madrid, about which Galicia "has absolutely nothing to object", Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela wanted to know if there could be "a delay, a postponement of the execution of the infrastructure that for Galicia" is "absolutely fundamental". This is because, he stressed, the "Euro region Galicia-North of Portugal" is "by far the cross-border territory between Spain and Portugal where most of the exchanges of all kinds take place, of an economic nature, the movement of workers", and everything that "involves a very fluid relationship for many years between Galicia and the North of Portugal". "I leave this meeting very calm, very satisfied. The minister confirmed to us that the Portuguese Government maintains its intention to implement this infrastructure, including very specific deadlines", admitted Alfonso Rueda, considering, however, that "each month that passes is essential" for the date indicated by the Portuguese Government to reach the border with Spain. The Lisbon-Porto high-speed line should connect the two main cities of the country in one hour and 15 minutes, with possible stops in Gaia, Aveiro, Coimbra and Leiria. The Porto-Vigo route is estimated at 50 minutes. The first phase (Porto-Soure) of the high-speed line in Portugal should be ready in 2030, with the second phase (Soure-Carregado) expected to be completed in 2032, with the connection to Lisbon being ensured via the Linha do Norte. The public tender for lot 1 (Porto-Oiã) of the first phase was launched in January, and that for lot two (Oiã-Soure) should be launched in July. The connection to Lisbon will proceed in 2026. The connection from Porto to Vigo, in Galicia (Spain), after 2030, will have stations at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, Braga, Ponte de Lima and Valença (district of Viana do Castelo). In total, according to the previous Government, the investment costs in the Lisbon-Valença axis are around seven to eight billion euros. Read Also: Deadline for proposals for the first section of the TGV extended until July (Portuguese version)