The global investment in the project that is underway is 200 million euros, an official source from Metro Mondego told Lusa, of which 117 million are in basic infrastructure and 34 million in electric buses.
Metro Mondego, a project that has been going through 30 years of advances and setbacks, has so far cost at least 327 million euros, including studies, administrative expenses and construction work, according to documents consulted by the Lusa agency.
Metro Mondego, which began to take shape in March 1994, in a diploma from Cavaco Silva’s last executive, intended to ensure a light surface metro connection serving the municipalities of Coimbra, Lousã and Miranda do Corvo.
However, over 30 years, it has seen various projects, studies and operating modalities, as well as advances and setbacks.
According to reports and accounts from Metro Mondego itself, the Court of Auditors’ audit of the project in 2011 and information provided by the responsible entities to the Lusa agency, the investment, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, accounts for a total of 327 million euros, 200 million euros of which in the current project being carried out, which abandoned the idea of a light metro and replaced it with an electric bus solution on a dedicated track.
The current venture, which was launched by the Government led by António Costa, definitively abandoned the idea of a light surface metro, and went ahead with the ‘metrobus’, a project that should cost 90 million euros, according to the study it supported the Government’s decision in 2017.
However, in 2020, when several projects were awarded, the estimate was already 130 million euros, with the completion of the suburban route expected by the end of the following year.
However, it was not only the deadlines that were revised, but also the global investment in the current project, which is now 200 million euros, an official source from Metro Mondego told Lusa, noting that, of the total value, 117 million of euros are in basic infrastructure, 34 million euros in electric buses and 15 million euros in other components, such as workshops or ticketing.
To these 200