Guimarães: Ricardo Araújo says BRT (metrobus) to Caldas das Taipas goes ahead despite Braga pause

The Mayor of Guimarães says the municipality’s main focus remains creating a dedicated public transport corridor within the council area.

BRT (metrobus) in Guimarães: first phase remains on track

Ricardo Araújo, President of Guimarães City Council, said the first phase of the BRT (metrobus) scheme-linking Guimarães to Caldas das Taipas-will not be affected by Braga City Council President João Rodrigues’s decision to pause work on the continuation of the project in that municipality.

Speaking after Monday’s meeting of the municipal executive, Araújo stressed that Guimarães is still prioritising a dedicated corridor for public transport inside the municipality. “The statements by the President of Braga City Council do not, for now, give me any concern. At this stage everything is established. The first phase is the link from Guimarães to Taipas and to AvePark, and the Government recently approved an investment of 80 million euros for it to be delivered,” he said.

Dedicated public transport corridor between Guimarães and Caldas das Taipas

According to Araújo, this initial step is the most significant for the municipality because it makes it possible to create an exclusive public transport corridor between the city and Taipas, also serving parishes such as Fermentões and Pencelo, as well as the town of Ponte.

He argued that the BRT is central to connecting the city to Guimarães’s towns with a public-transport-only route. “The BRT is essential for us to create a dedicated public transport channel that links the city to our towns. That is what will allow us to offer better conditions so that people choose public transport,” he added.

Araújo acknowledged that later phases are planned to extend the connection towards Braga, but underlined that these are not an immediate priority.

PS councillor Ricardo Costa calls for a Guimarães–Braga rail link

In the same meeting, PS councillor Ricardo Costa again maintained that the region’s priority should be building a railway connection between Guimarães and Braga, arguing that the BRT amounts to “a strategic mistake” in mobility policy.

“We are investing 80 million euros in a solution that still relies on buses and does not solve the main mobility problem between Guimarães and Braga,” he said.

The socialist councillor insisted his stance “does not result from party-political differences”, describing the rail link as a long-standing regional demand. He pointed to studies by Professor António Babo which, he said, already in 2009 identified the railway as the most suitable solution to strengthen regional competitiveness.

Selected as Capital of Culture of the Atlantic Axis

Guimarães will be the Capital of Culture of the Atlantic Axis in 2027, taking over from Viana do Castelo in the biennial initiative that promotes culture in the Galicia–Northern Portugal Euroregion.

The announcement was made by Mayor Ricardo Araújo, who said the choice was approved unanimously by the Atlantic Axis municipalities. “We will continue working to project Guimarães at national and international level. In 2027, we will have an expanded cultural programme, developed in coordination with the municipalities in this network,” said the Guimarães mayor at the end of yesterday’s municipal executive meeting.