A new high-speed is set to link the popular destination of Porto with the Galician port city of Vigo in .

So far, the two countries, which are among the most popular on the continent for , are not directly connected by high-speed services, but both have committed to establishing connections within the next five years.

The first major link will be between the two capitals, (Portugal) and Madrid (Spain) through a multi-billion euro plan, to be finished by 2030.

Yet this latest railway is set to link Portugal's second-largest city, , with Vigo, which lies on the southern shore an an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in Spain, opening the door for seamless cross-border travel.

Currently, the two cities are served by the Celta service, a 95-mile route which takes just under two-and-a-half hours to complete, but the new project will see travel times slashed.

The line will link the two cities via Porto Airport, Braga and Valenca to relieve capacity on the existing Linha do Minho. At , it would then join the Atlantic Axis high-speed rail line, which links A Coruña, Santiago de Compostela, Pontevedra in Spain.

The initial phase will consist of a line between Braga and Vigo at a cost of 900 million euros (£743 million), with a proposed 30-minute journey between them.

In a major update this week, Miguel Pinto Luz, the Portuguese Minister for , confirmed the plans at an event in Vigo. He said both Portuguese and Spanish authorities aim to finish the project within seven years, meaning the line could be open for tourists by 2032.

"It will have a unique geostrategic position. We'll have a new macro-region that will lead the economy," Pinto Luz said, reported , going on to assure that "We don't think that the country is just Lisbon. We see Porto as a new hub and Galicia as a key partner".

Joined by Galician president, Alfonso Rueda Valenzuela, they announced plans to make northern Spain and Portugal a "major competitor" in Europe's tourism economy.

However, according to Porto Mayor, Rui Moreira, the Port-Vigo line will be used "seven times more" and urged officials to "think outside their capitals" and develop "high-speed, clean and sustainable infrastructure" that Europe "urgently needs".

High-speed rail in Portugal was planned in the 1990s and formally announced in 2005, which included the Lisbon-Madrid high-speed rail line, a Lisbon to Porto line and the line from Porto to Vigo. However, the plan was cancelled in 2009 due to the economic downturn.

In 2020, the plan was reactivated as part of the Portuguese government's initiative to invest €43 billion (£35.5 billion) in infrastructure projects by 2030.