This is bad news for those who bought a property near one of the new stations. In fact, as part of the vote on the Portuguese State Budget 2020, a proposal from the PAN party (animals and nature) obtained favorable votes from the PSD, BE, PCP and Chega in order to suspend the work of the new circular metro line in the Portuguese capital. The PS and the Liberal Initiative party voted against this initiative and the CDS abstained. The deputies behind this proposal want the metro to first be extended to Loures as well as Alcantara, areas poorly served by public transport, but also to give priority to the maintenance of the existing network. However, this suspension is only valid for 2020 at the moment. Those who have been impatiently waiting for the new metro line will have to wait. Lisbob, the expatriate assistant in Portugal, tells you all about the suspension of work on the new circular metro line in Lisbon.
Suspension of works on the new circular subway line in Lisbon
All against the PS
This is a blow to the government of Antonio Costa. The initiative of the PAN party (animals and nature) obtained the favorable votes of the PSD, the BE, the PCP and the Chega, the votes against the PS and the Liberal Initiative and the abstention of the CDS.
The construction of the circular line of the Lisboa metro will be suspended, according to a proposal to modify the NAP approved in Parliament during the vote on the state budget for 2020 (OE2020).
The text says that "The Portuguese government will, in 2020, suspend the project to build the circular line of the Lisbon Metro". Clearly, no progress for the new metro line before 2021, if work resumes of course.
The initiative also indicates that "in the year 2020", the government will conduct, "through the Metropolitano de Lisboa, a technical and economic feasibility study, which allows a comparative assessment between the extension of the network to Alcântara and the circular line ". Clearly, it means that this study has not been done before.
Coronavirus has already killed more than 420 people in China
The executive will also have to carry out, according to the proposal, "the technical and economic studies necessary for its priority extension to the municipality of Loures" as well as "an overall cost-benefit assessment, covering the various alternative solutions for the 'extension of the network to the west area of Lisbon'.
The PAN initiative also indicates that the government will "urgently hire the workers necessary for the maintenance and normal operation of the current Lisbon metro network, taking into account the different areas where there is a shortage of staff" .
Also in the same document, it was approved that the executive of Antonio Costa will have to carry out work in the stations requiring intervention, mainly due to infiltrations, like the station of Olivais which is in lamentable state.
PAN's proposal follows a resolution by the Assembly of the Republic which recommended to the government that the construction of the circular line of the Lisboa metro be suspended and that a technical and economic feasibility study be carried out.
