Category: Transport

A new rail route linking Lisbon to Madrid – stopping at Elvas, Badajoz, Merida, Caceres, Toledo, and Madrid – is being planned after it received the go-ahead from the European Parliament. 

The route from Madrid to Badajoz is currently being constructed and should be completed by 2030. 

The Portuguese section of the line, from Lisbon to Elvas (just on the Spanish border), forms part of a major European infrastructure project known as the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).

The overall cost is said to be around seven billion euros. 
It was back in 2012 when a rail link between Lisbon and Madrid was first planned. It was abandoned after the collapse of the Portuguese economy.

Dominique Riquet, a MEP for Renew Europe, said: “New rules will strengthen the performance, accessibility, security and resilience of our infrastructure, which is a key element of our sovereignty. It will also help to encourage Europeans to travel and make our economy more competitive.”

Spain boasts one of the most modern European railway networks. 

The city of Barcelona has coughed up just over €23m for hydrogen buses.

It is buying 38 hydrogen fuel-cell buses from Polish manufacturer Solaris.

The buses, purchased by publicly-owned transport company TMB, will be fueled with green hydrogen supplied by Iberdrola.

The new fleet will consist of 26 12-metre buses and two articulated 18-metre buses.

The two largest buses are the first in the country.

Part of the bill will be met by the European Commission’s NextGenerationEU post-Covid recovery fund. This awarded €21.24m to TMB in July 2023. The plan is to buy 36 hydrogen buses, 23 electric buses and two trains.

Eight hydrogen buses already operate in Barcelona, supplied by Portuguese bus maker Caetano. The city hopes to have 44 hydrogen buses by 2025, together with 232 electric models.

Hydrogen buses tend to be more expensive to purchase and run, but can better handle routes that electric buses can’t – such as long, or hilly stretches.