"We will invite citizens of the Porto Metropolitan Area [AMP] to visit this station [Manuel Leão], the Santos Silva Hospital station, and the viaduct, and we will offer the population free access to the metro journey between Santo Ovídio station and Vila d'Este station", as well as the return journey, the president of Metro do Porto, Tiago Braga, told journalists today, according to Sapo news.

Free travel starts today, with the start of commercial operations in the afternoon, and the service will be paid for from Monday, according to the carrier.

The official was speaking after the inauguration ceremony for the extension of the Yellow and Vila d'Este Line, which took place this morning at the Manuel Leão underground station, in Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto district).

In his speech, the president of the carrier stressed that the extension that comprises the Manuel Leão, Hospital Santos Silva, and Vila d'Este stations will bring, per year, "an additional 950 thousand kilometers produced commercially, with a potential demand generator that amounts to 4.5 million annual passengers, plus 18 thousand daily validations".

In environmental terms, the investment of 206.4 million euros represents a "potential for avoided [carbon dioxide] emissions of 2,300 tonnes/year, through a daily reduction of 3,800 uses of individual transport", he pointed out.

On behalf of the Government, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, said that the length of the line "is much greater than the kilometres" it has, representing "dignity, mobility, saving time on journeys, which can be used by family and friends", improving the "quality of life" for an area where the approximately 17 thousand inhabitants "depended on cars and buses, which often have problems", she pointed out.

The minister also pointed out that, taking into account that the project was decided by the previous PS Government, she had "no difficulty in recognizing the merit" of the initiative of her predecessors, with the AD Government (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM) intending to "multiply examples like this throughout the country".

The Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Miguel Pinto Luz, also stated that the current executive has "no shame" in inaugurating a project started by another Government, without a "Manichean perspective on life" in which it would be necessary to "redo everything that came before".

"We place, above all, the interests of the Portuguese people and the ability of our fellow citizens to implement their projects for happiness", stated the minister responsible for transport.

In this field, he stated that what the current Government has changed is "looking at these problems in an integrated way", considering that it was "healthy" to bring together in the same ministry "the vision of mobility and the vision of housing".

The president of the Gaia City Council and AMP, Eduardo Vítor Rodrigues, spoke of a work that went from "myth" to reality, in a "moment of joy for everyone".

"When the North region grows, the country grows. When the North region progresses, the country progresses. This is an investment that makes a lot of sense", and which was decided based on "financial sustainability" criteria.

With a length of more than three kilometers, the project began in 2021 and included the construction of a 420 metre viaduct between Santo Ovídio and Manuel Leão (underground station), a one kilometre tunnel to the Hospital Santos Silva station, and a Park of Material and Workshops (PMO).

In Santo Ovídio, the current Yellow Line station will also have a pedestrian connection to the future Ruby Line station (Santo Ovídio - Casa da Música) and to the future high-speed ​​railway station, also in Santo Ovídio, whose roundabout should be transformed into a square.