Porto City Council to keep 202 trees and transplant 36 during metrobus second phase works

Porto City Council said on Tuesday that, as part of the construction works for the second phase of the metrobus, it will safeguard 202 trees and relocate 36, from a total of 275 trees affected.

According to a statement from the municipality, the council also intends to plant 452 new trees, with the final scheme expected to include 690 specimens.

Tree retention, transplanting and new planting

The local authority, led by Pedro Duarte (elected by the PSD/CDS-PP/IL coalition), explained that the first tree transplants will begin on Wednesday. On that day, “a 'magnolia grandiflora' will be moved” to near the junction with Rua Jorge Reinel and a “'jacaranda ovalifolia'” to near the junction with Avenida Dr Antunes Guimarães, with both being relocated close to their current positions.

The council added: “The process also includes the transplanting of two 'tilia platyphyllos', which are located next to the parking area on Avenida do Parque, to the junction of Avenida da Boavista with Rua de Tanger and Avenida Dr Antunes Guimarães. Ten 'ceiba speciosa' will be moved to a more sheltered spot in a green area near Rua Baltazar Falcão and four 'metrosideros excelsa' will be given space near Praia das Pastoras”.

Metrobus second phase: route and timeline

The metrobus second phase will connect Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa to Anémona.

On 18 December, at a press conference following the signing of the operating memorandum for the first phase (Casa da Música – Império), Metro do Porto president Emídio Gomes said the second-phase works should be finished in August and that there will be more green spaces.

The first-phase construction between Casa da Música and Praça do Império was completed in summer 2024, and operations began on 29 February this year.

Work on the second phase, which was at one point halted by Metro do Porto’s new management in October, restarted on 3 November 2025 on Avenida da Boavista, between Colégio do Rosário and Fonte da Moura.

The second-phase works originally began on 22 September 2025, in the dedicated bus corridor on Avenida da Boavista, on the section between Rua Jorge Reinel and Avenida do Dr Antunes Guimarães. The project attracted opposition both from candidates for the city’s top job and from residents, particularly over the felling of trees.

Changes to the project and service details

At the same event, commenting on adjustments to the second phase-on Avenida da Boavista this includes keeping the central reservation next to Parque da Cidade and having buses run not in a dedicated lane but alongside other traffic-the Mayor of Porto said the central corridor could even be widened.

“Across that whole area, what will be respected is the landscape setting we already have today in the Parque da Cidade section, and we may even widen that same central corridor that Porto residents are already using via a cycle lane and a pedestrian space that is used very frequently,” Pedro Duarte said at the time.

Porto’s metrobus will be a hydrogen bus service linking Casa da Música to Praça do Império and, in the second phase, to Anémona, taking 12 and 17 minutes respectively.

The vehicles and the energy production system cost €29.5 million. The metrobus construction contract is worth around €76 million.