“The concession will begin operating on August 1st. The concession is for five years, extendable for another two years,” Emílio Torrão, president of the Coimbra Region Intermunicipal Community (CIM/RC), told Lusa.

Describing the new system as "a true revolution in road transportation" for passengers in the region's 19 municipalities and connecting them to neighbouring regions, Emílio Torrão noted, however, that the operation will begin as a single-modal system (solely), that is, without the single ticket that will also allow use of the Mondego Metro (when it is operational) and the SMTUC – Municipal Urban Transport Services of Coimbra, as requested by the CIM/RC.

He added that the intermodal system is only expected to be operational in six months, at the beginning of 2026.

When asked about the cause of the delay (on April 14th, he had announced the July 1st date, with an intermodal pass), Emílio Torrão emphasized that the fall of the previous government "led to a series of incidents" in establishing agreements between the various public transport partners, which prevented the intermodal system from entering into operation on August 1st.

"We have the computer system, we have the equipment, the tickets are all the same, but we had to start testing, we had to have everything ready for August, and that's not possible," he lamented.

Therefore, when the Coimbra Region's intermunicipal transport system launches, anyone wanting to use a SMTUC bus will have to purchase a separate ticket, which will no longer be the case once the intermodal pass is in effect.

"It will be six months for us, but I can't say for others, I can't speak for others," he stressed.

He also noted that although the ticketing system is identical and compatible with the future system, it will have to be reconfigured for the intermodal system when it comes into effect.

According to data provided to Lusa by Emílio Torrão, the new intermunicipal transport system in the Coimbra Region involves 211 lines, 1,940 service schedules, and 5,211 stops, served by 240 buses—186 new (77.5%) and 54 used.

All vehicles will have free on-board Wi-Fi and air conditioning. They will have an average age of 55 months (approximately four and a half years) throughout the concession period, and are expected to cover nearly seven million kilometres.

Among the lines available in the 19 municipalities are some fast-track services, including connections between Coimbra, Montemor-o-Velho, and Figueira da Foz, and even Mira, via Cantanhede, as well as a connection to Penela.