Press Release 06/2026
2 March 2026

The Portuguese Competition Authority (AdC) today launched a public consultation on the preliminary version of the study “Competition in the rail passenger and freight transport sector in Portugal”. The study identifies barriers to the effective liberalisation of the sector and puts forward 14 recommendations addressed to the Government, Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP), the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT) and rail operators.
The study
In the study, conducted in a context of significant public investment, particularly in the construction of high-speed lines and the renewal of rolling stock, the AdC concludes that significant barriers to competition remain, particularly in passenger rail transport, highlighting the lack of competition in the market through competitive public tenders for the award of public service contracts.
Among its main recommendations, the AdC defends that the announced extension of CP – Comboios de Portugal's public service contract should be limited to the period strictly necessary to amortise the announced investments and that, once this period has ended, an international public tender should be launched to award new contracts. Similarly, it recommends that Fertagus' current public service contract should not be extended again, in order to promote competition in the market.
The study also identifies obstacles to accessing essential inputs to railway activity, namely rolling stock and human resources. As such, non-discriminatory access to those inputs will be crucial to ensuring effective competition in future tendering procedures. The AdC issues specific recommendations to guarantee such access.
According to the AdC, the specific characteristics of the national rail network exacerbate barriers to entry, particularly due to the need for rolling stock to be compatible with the Iberian gauge and the CONVEL signalling system.
Barriers related to access to national rail network infrastructure and complementary services necessary for the provision of competitive commercial services are also highlighted, particularly in long-distance passenger transport and freight transport. In this context, the AdC issues an additional set of recommendations to mitigate these constraints.
The study also underlines the importance of ensuring effective and non-discriminatory access to ticketing information by alternative ticketing platforms, issuing a set of recommendations to the Government and a set of best practices to rail passenger operators.

The AdC emphasises that the experience of rail transport liberalisation in several EU Member States has shown gains for users, particularly in terms of lower prices, better service quality, increased supply and innovation.

The public consultation
The public consultation will run for a period of 20 working days, until 30 March 2026, during which interested parties may submit comments or statements to the following email address: consultapublica@concorrencia.pt.

The recommendations
The recommendations made by the AdC are as follows: To the Government: 

1. Drafting of a Railway Sector Code

2. Review of the licence validity regime and reassessment of civil liability coverage.

3. Recommendations to the State-CP public service contract during its duration, including limiting the extension of CP – Comboios de Portugal's public service contract to the period strictly necessary for the amortisation of the investments made.

4. Recommendations upon termination of the State-CP contract (2019-2029/2034) in the face of a new contract, including promoting an international public tender for the award of new public service contracts.

5. Recommendations upon termination of the State-Fertagus contract (1999-2031) in the face of a new contract, including limiting the extension of Fertagus' public service contract.

6. Create mechanisms to ensure effective and non-discriminatory access to rolling stock, particularly in the context of future public tenders.

7. Promote measures to facilitate the mobility of qualified human resources in the railway sector.

8. Ensure effective and non-discriminatory access to ticketing information by alternative platforms.

9. Review of capacity allocation criteria.

To Infraestruturas de Portugal (IP)

10. Best practices for the design of tender procedures for the acquisition of railway equipment 

11. Review of capacity allocation criteria.

12. Best practices in concluding framework agreements for capacity allocation.

To the Mobility and Transport Authority (AMT)

13. Best practices in concluding framework agreements for capacity allocation.

To passenger railway operators

14. Best practices in the contracting of third-party ticketing services.