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The works to adapt the Lousã Branch to the circulation of electric buses are recorded on Friday in the presence of the Minister of Infrastructure, who later presides over the same inauguration ceremony of the “metro bus” channel in Coimbra.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, intervened for the first time in the old Serpins railway station, at 11:00 am, in the act of transfer of the contract for the construction of the section between Alto de São João, in Coimbra, and that parish. of the municipality of Lousã, in the scope of the future Mondego Mobility System (SMM).
Consigned for an amount of 23.7 million euros, this work has an execution period of 18 months.
At 12:30 hours the contract for the opening of the canal in the Baixa de Coimbra is consigned, which will allow the execution of the Hospital Line, the new urban section through which the so-called “metrobús” will circulate, a bus with a rechargeable electric battery.
This second ceremony, presided over by the supervising minister, will take place in Praça 8 de Maio, next to the Coimbra City Hall.
“The opening of this structuring road, which will connect the river front [Mondego] Rua da Sofia, with an investment of more than 3.5 million euros, includes the reconstruction of several buildings and the construction of the bridge building designed by the architect Gonçalo Byrne, which will allow the passage of the metrobús ”, says Metro Mondego in a sentence.
After the completion of the works, the execution of which has a term of 23 months, “two buildings will be available, with a construction area of about 2,600 square meters, for commerce, restaurants, services and housing,” according to the note.
The Hospital Line will link the centennial Lousã and Baixa line, now with “metrobus” vehicles, with the Celas area, where the main public hospitals in the Central region are located, as well as the Faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy and several related research institutes to the University of Coimbra.
The Lousã branch was closed and dismantled in the first weeks of 2010, to accommodate a light rail system on rails.
This work, which was not a candidate for European support, generated popular contention for more than 15 years, through different movements that converged in the defense of the electrification and modernization of the railway.
The works of the metro continued in December 2009, shortly after the municipal elections, by decision of the last government of José Sócrates.
The works were later interrupted due to alleged financial difficulties.
The beginning of the process of substituting the conventional train for the metro dates back at least to 1994, when the last Cavaco Silva government approved a diploma for this purpose.
In 1996, the first government of António Guterres created Metro Mondego, a public company with the participation of the municipalities involved.
According to different estimates, at least 150 million euros have been spent on the works of the Lousã Delegation, including the interfaces of Ceira, Miranda do Corvo, Lousã and Serpins, with private users of the train for almost 11 years, which has been replaced by buses. .
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