🛣 Tolls: changes on Portuguese motorways in 2025 🚙
- Claire Vous Aide
- Jan 3
- 3 min read
🗓 From 1 January 2025, tolls will be eliminated on :
the A4 Transmontana and Túnel do Marão: 137.1 km between Vila Real e Quintanilha; the abolition of tolls on this section will save a maximum of between €1.20 and €2.95 per journey, depending on whether it is a class 1 or class 4 vehicle respectively.
the A13 Pinhal Interior and the A13-1 or Radial de Coimbra: 89.6 km between Coimbra and Atalaia (A13) + 12.5 km between Condeixa-a-Nova and Almaguês (A13-1); the maximum saving will be €3.05 for a class 1 vehicle, per journey, on the A13, plus 35 cents on the Radial de Coimbra.
the A22 Algarve (formerly Via do Infante): 133 km between Bensafrim and Castro Marim; vehicles will no longer pay between €4.65 and €11.70 (Bensafrim-Ponte do Guadiana) per journey, depending on class.
the A23 Beira Interior: 208.7 km between Torres Novas and Guarda, which passes through the districts of Guarda, Castelo Branco, Portalegre and Santarém; in this case, savings can range from €7.40 to €18.40, depending on the class of vehicle - for the longest journey.
the A24 Interior Norte: 150.1 km between Viseu and Chaves; savings of between €4.80 and €11.90, depending on the class of vehicle, on the longest journey.
the A25 Beiras Litoral et Alta: 195.5 km between Gafanha da Nazaré, Aveiro, e Vilar Formoso; maximum savings of between €6.70 and €17 per journey.
the A28 Minho: 24.2 km between Esposende and Antas and between Neiva and Darque; savings of around €1.15 for class 1 vehicles and €2.85 for class 4 vehicles.
🚘 951 kilometres of motorway will thus become free by 2025.
After more than 13 years to re-establish the original model of financing these roads at no cost to the user, tolls are being abolished on the structural motorways of the interior and the Algarve, known as SCUT*.
🔎 SCUT* = ‘Sem Custo para o Utilizador’ (No Cost to the User) motorways; designation of motorways whose costs, initially borne by the Portuguese State, are now paid by users of certain routes, by means of electronic invoicing.
🧐 SCUT toll roads were introduced in Portugal in 1997, when António Guterres was Prime Minister. At the time, the costs were borne entirely by the State. Highly controversial, the funding model for these roads changed in 2010, when the costs of ex-SCUTs became the responsibility of users.
📜 The law was passed by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, in July 2024. The proposal, which ‘abolishes tolls on motorway interchanges and subinterchanges in the interior and on roads where there are no alternatives allowing safe and quality use’, had been presented by the Socialist Party and approved with 🗳 the favourable votes of the Socialist Party, Chega, Bloco de Esquerda, Portuguese Communist Party, Livre and PAN; the Liberal Initiative abstained and the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and CDS-People's Party voted against.
The governing parties, PSD and CDS, voted against, due to the significant drop in expected revenues. 💶 According to the report on the State budget for 2025, the abolition of payment on several inland motorways will result in a significant loss of revenue, estimated at €180 million.
⛔️ Organisations such as the Portuguese Association of Toll Motorway or Bridge Concessionaires (APCAP), the Portuguese Taxpayers' Association (APC) and the Portuguese Association of Railway Companies (APEF), have raised objections to the end of tolls on these roads. APCAP and APC pointed out that the end of these tolls will transfer the costs of building and maintaining infrastructure from users to taxpayers in general, while APEF felt that the decision would penalise the railways.
📣 Toll prices on other sections will be updated in 2025:
While tolls on some motorways will disappear, on others prices will rise in 2025, with average increases of 2,21%. In all, 52 of the 93 Class 1 tolls will be updated in 2025.
The price of tolls on the A1 between Lisbon and Porto will rise by 0,70€: you will have to pay €24,60 for this journey from 1 January 2025.
Toll prices on the A2, between Lisbon and the Algarve, are rising by 0,60€: from 1 January 2025, you will have to pay €23,30 for this journey.
On the A5, between Lisbon and Cascais, the fare remains unchanged at €1,50.
On the A5, between Lisbon and Oeiras, the fare will increase by 0,05€: it will cost you 0,40€ in 2025.
On the CREL A9, the fare will increase by 0,15€ from 1 January 2025 to €3,70 in 2025.
On the A3, the fare between Porto and Valença will increase by 0,20€ to €9,95 in 2025.
On the A4, the fare between Porto and Amarante will rise by 0,25€ to €4,70 in 2025.
