Urbanization plan will transform Campanhã into a new hub of the city

A year after the announcement of an Urbanization Plan for Campanhã, the project by Catalan architect Joan Busquets, has now become known. The “urban revolution” will transform the eastern part of the city, developing a new centrality there, anchored in the High-Speed project, under the responsibility of Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP).

The new Urbanization Plan aims to carry out a deep transformation of the urban space. The land surrounding the train station will change substantially, in the medium and long run, due to the extensive urban intervention motivated by the Porto-Lisbon High-Speed Line.

For the Mayor of Porto City Hall, “this is a great opportunity for the city of Porto and Campanhã, in particular”. “A year later it feels good to be able to revisit what is being done”, stood out Rui Moreira.

Taking the recent history of the city, the Mayor recalled that “when the current Campanhã train station was built, nothing was planned. The city was torn apart and Campanhã was always a victim of that tear”. Therefore, he said, “this is a huge opportunity to recompose urbanism in that area, in an integrated way.”

“This [plan] will be an accelerator which will allow us to move faster and overcome barriers”, concluded Rui Moreira.

A land of opportunities

The Campanhã Urbanization Plan will be “a land of opportunities”, as the Urbanism councillor said. “There, the city can grow in size”, added Pedro Baganha.

Joan Busquets, who confessed to being a “truly admirer” of Porto, presented and revealed the project’s model. “An intense work throughout the last year” with the Urbanism teams from Porto City Hall and Infraestruturas de Portugal, he revealed, adding that the Campanhã train station, which will be subject to requalification, will have a new setting, to the east, “a more modern image”, he said.

The area will gain a new square and an overpass to the line, linking all means of transport, as part of the introduction of the high-speed railway in Porto. There will be built a parking lot with capacity for 620 places.

With the high-speed, Campanhã train station will be extended, to the east, from the current limits of the station, as well as the consequent affectation of Rua Pinheiro de Campanhã, that shall be reestablished to ensure its connection to Rua do Freixo, whose underpass line will remain.

Trains will arrive Campanhã, through a new railroad bridge to be built as part of the high-speed project, whose public tender for the Porto – Oiã section was launched last week. “The station [Campanhã] will continue to be an iconic space in the city”, stood out IP’s vice-president.

Porto-Lisbon in 1h15

Carlos Fernandes assured that Infraestruturas de Portugal hopes to begin the projects and construction of the high-speed line, from mid- 2025, connecting the country’s two main cities in around an hour and 15 minutes. In terms of price, the ticket will cost around 25 euros.

The first stage (Porto – Soure) should be ready in 2030, with the possibility of connecting to the Northern line and, immediately, shortening travel time. The project foresees carrying out 60 services per day and transporting 16 million passengers per year. At the same time, a connection between Porto and Vigo (Spain) is also being designed, with a connection to Aeroporto Francisco Sá Carneiro.

At the conclusion of the presentation of the urbanization plan, the Secretary of State for Infrastructure stated that he was hopeful that “the dream of the Campanhã area can come true”, under the pretext of “the development of a railway transport infrastructure”, added Frederico Francisco.