Rede Expressos and FlixBus are involved in a legal dispute over access to the Sete Rios bus terminal in Lisbon. The German carrier publicly denounced that the Portuguese rival is creating obstacles to compliance with a court decision of March 8, 2026, issued by the Administrative Court of Lisbon Circle, which ordered the immediate access of FlixBus to that capital station. The ruling required the opening of the terminal to the German carrier.
Rede Expressos rejects the accusations, classifying them as false and defamatory. The Portuguese company claims it opened the infrastructure's doors in May, after the initial judicial rulings, but that the terminal has reached the limit of its physical capacity. The national operator considers it unfeasible to accommodate FlixBus's request to allocate 96 daily departure and arrival schedules, arguing that this would put the safety of thousands of passengers at risk and disrupt the operation of the rail-road complex.
FlixBus has moved forward with two legal initiatives against the situation. The company filed an enforcement action to force compulsory admission to the terminal and formalized a criminal complaint against those responsible for managing the station. The German multinational argues that the rival distorts competition rules and deliberately delays market opening at the main bus hub in Lisbon.
The dispute reflects the growing pressure on the road infrastructure of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, where the liberalization of long-distance routes has caused an exponential increase in demand. The outcome of the enforcement action and the criminal complaint will determine how the different carriers will share the transfer spaces in the Portuguese capital.
