FlixBus has filed a court enforcement action and presented a criminal complaint against the managers of Rede Expressos, in an attempt to secure access to the Sete Rios bus terminal in Lisbon. The initiative comes following a decision by the Lisbon Administrative Court that ordered the immediate granting of FlixBus access to the terminal, managed by Rede Expressos, which belongs to the Barraqueiro group.
FlixBus accuses Rede Expressos of successive postponements in carrying out its entry into the infrastructure, despite having submitted a phased plan in good faith. The German company states it has no guarantee that the date of September 24, planned for the start of operations, will be met, noting that there are still no FlixBus trips on sale from and to this terminal.
The dispute between the two companies began in 2023, when FlixBus filed a complaint with the Mobility and Transport Authority after Rede Expressos refused to grant access to the infrastructure. The regulator issued a favorable opinion for the German multinational in May 2025, finding that the terminal had available capacity.
Rede Expressos, on the other hand, attributes the delay to the administrative and operational authorizations necessary for the start of the services that FlixBus intends to transfer from Gare do Oriente to Sete Rios, rejecting any responsibility for the fact that these authorizations have not been obtained in a timely manner. The company stated that it has not yet been notified of any complaint or legal action and that new working meetings are planned.
